Without Googling. Do You Know What the Word "Wonky" Means

Yes, I know wht that word mean w/o googling it but I love words & having a plethora of them in my vocabulary.

Not everyone is a "wordie" like not everyone is a "foodie". It's just
different strokes. :) Fun for you & me, I guess.

I have always assumed it meant "not quite right", "a little off balance" "a little crazy". As in, "I messed up my eyeliner and now my face looks all wonky"

I say wonky all the time. I've never been stared at for that.

When we get transplants from other states, they tend to look at Texasisms with confused stares. Like, everything is coke here. There's no soda, pop, soda pop. It's, "would you like a coke?" Followed by, "what kind?" That always confuses people. We get REALLY irritated when someone invites us over for a BBQ. No, BBQ is what you eat...not what you do. GRILLING, is what you do. BBQ is serious business here. People are always shocked by that.

Off, not quiet right, weird. That is what I always thought it meant.

We were talking to my husband's friends and they were talking about rain and I said "did you put your rubbers on"? The looks I got!! I was talking about the rubber covers you can put over your shoes to not get wet or snowy. Not something Texans are familiar with. =)

I thought wonky mean- a little "off", silly.
I'm from the southeastern US. With my southern drawl, I get a wth on a daily basis- esp from these northerners!

Of course.
But I'm from Pennsylvania and my mom's family is PA Dutch. We grew up saying things like "red up your room" and "outten the lights" and "it's making down." Didn't know some of those things weren't really English until I left PA.

Yes, I do. I'm not sure *how* I know, but I do know that it means a bit off.

In Japan, where I grew up, there are little koala shaped snacks filled with chocolate. There are also little mushrooms with chocolate caps and cracker stems. They are common snacks. My kids love them. So my son was 6 and going through psychological testing prior to getting his Autism diagnosis. The psychologist asked him "what's your favorite snack?" His answer: "Koalas and mushrooms." The psychologist looked at him like he had two heads. I DID intervene and give her an explanation. Couldn't have her thinking he was THAT wonky!

I use 'wonky' all the time. I never realized it was a British word.

Cattywompus (or kattywompus) usually gets me some strange looks, though I think the word is quite literal in itself!

Yep. It's my go-to word for all things "off kilter."

You can feel wonky. When you just aren't feeling right, but aren't truly sick either.

Something can be wonky. It's wobbly or crookedy.

off (like a wonky eye - it just doesn't look quite the right way....)

Crooked or misaligned, is what I think.

I am from Ky and TN area. Many of our words or phrases are straight out of old England or at least, the King James Bible, not a problem, unless you wind up anywhere else. Texas is not so English but can figure most things.

When things went really Wonky, was when I spent a few yrs in St. Louis.
I couldn't go to the cafeteria without people looking at me like I had two heads. Most of my patients loved it. Males, more than females.

I ask a Dr. A question once, which she couldn't make out. She ask me how long I had lived there. At the time, it was a yr. She, rather haughtily, replied, Well, you sure don't sound like us.

To which I replied, Who said I wanted to!

Love your language for it gives you place.

I don't know Webster's definition, but I have a pretty good idea. What could she have thought the word meant...terribly perfect???

I know what wonky means... when my son was a toddler, we'd chuckle at his 'wonky walk'.

My favorite 'huh' word is 'gorpy', which is what a friend uses for "waaay too much" or 'too sappy' or 'so sugary sweet and cutsie pie it sets my teeth on edge'. I'm not sure it is a word, but I it totally works for me.:)

I read a lot and my vocabulary sometimes throws people off. I think I'm a 'wordie' too... I just find that sometimes I'd prefer to say "I thought that statement of his was rather disingenuous" instead of 'he's a big faker', esp. around my kindergarten son. *Especially* when discussing people he is acquainted with. We can't rely on 'spell-talking' any more, so we've resorted to using more sophisticated vocabulary. My husband's got his Masters in English, so he is pretty good at keeping up.

I know what wonky means. I use it all the time. I've never had anyone look at me oddly for using it unless they weren't from this region. :-)

off center

Or what about "can you pass me the rubber?"
ie: eraser

Given the context, yes I would know what wonky is. And we use it a lot in that way. I don't think it's a Britishism.

That said, when you just ask what "wonky" means without the context, I jump to the "well read" or "well informed" definition. (Angela S got this one.)

Not usually... but I would imagine it could happen if I traveled somewhere that used other local vernacular to mean what I am trying to say with my non-local term.

When I hear or see the word "wonky" I think of something that is "off" or "a little screwy"... and those terms themselves are probably open to interpretation, lol. I would have known what you meant, but where I live, someone is more likely to say "funky" than "wonky," even though the intent of the meaning is exactly the same.

LOL! Yes - I do know what it means. But only because my husband spent about 9 months in England and he says it all the time now. I think it's a great word! We actually use it all the time now. Sometimes there just isn't another way to describe those wonky carts! LOL.

ETA: I forgot to tell you my funny word (actually, again, my husband's word that I stole). Rainy-fied: when it is very cloudy and looks like it will rain. My husband likes to make up words. LOL.

Yes, I know what Wonky means. How crazy that she doesn't!!
I moved up here from CA to WA when I was about 13. (with my family, of course!)
I went to McDonald's and oredered my food and then asked them "what kind of soda do you have?" The lady looked at me like I had sprouted another eye. Huh? SODA....you know....SODA pop? "Oooohhh, pop!" that's right, soda!
I went to the grocery store and asked the guy in produce where I could find jicama. I must have turned into some kind of alien when I asked that question by the look he gave me. He had no idea what I was talking about. Even after I explained what it was. Jicama was all over southern CA....guess it wasn't up here.
L.

I use wonky all the time, it's one of my favorite words. It usually makes people chuckle though, and it's known as "my" word at work...these stats look wonky, this report has something wonky in it, etc.

I do. My husband is English. I did a study abroad in London, however, until I met him, I hadn't encountered "wonky." Even if I hadn't known it's meaning, I could have guessed from the context.

My husband is often infuriated by how difficult people find it to understand an Englishman speaking English, esp in a melting pot like NY where for so many English is a second language and there are a variety of accents and slang vocabulary that we contend with daily.

Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

I use wonky to mean crooked, like when my kids are on the swing and it starts going a little side to side. I call that wonky. Am I right?

I also use the word wompy-jawed to mean basically the same thing, like if a picture is hanging crooked on the wall. That one gets some weird looks sometimes.

Lol! We say "wonky" too. It is especially cute when my two year-old says it. He hates when the seams on his socks get twisted around, and he will sit down, remove shoes, and announce "my socks are wonky," while he tries tugging them into place.

I use a number of phrases that make people look at me funny. For example, "Holy buckets!" "Oh, for crying in the night!" mostly phrases my Grandma used to use that maybe people don't hear much anymore.

To me wonky means somewhat academic and nerdy.

Apparently the British meaning is different! :)

Can't think of any wacky words I say, other than I've started to speak in "text-speak." LOL. ;)

It means weird, or odd, right?

People around here look at me funny when I say the word "bagel" because I say it with my Minnesota accent, which requires a long "a" sound.

I would say being a little off. Not quite right.

Well, i'd say you used it in the right context. I don't know why she looked at you weird, I've used the word before. Who knows.

S.:

Wonky always meant unstable or "off" to me - so I wouldn't have given you a look.

I can't think of any words that I use that people give me the "HUH?" stare.

Yes, I do know what wonky means. I think it might be used more where you're from than the average American? The other day, after a particularly frustrating trip to the grocery store, I burst into the house and proclaimed to my husband that I was in a "flop sweat". I thought it was a fairly common saying, but he had no idea what I was talking about. That very afternoon, I heard someone on the radio using the same phrase.

I'm married to an Englishman so I knew "wonky" meant "off-kilter, not working right" as you meant it in the store regarding the cart! That is exactly how I would hear it in England.

Over here, a person can be a "wonk" as in the term "She's such a policy wonk," which might be said here in the Washington, D.C., area, referring to a person who knew way too much about details of government policy. When I was in college there were "tech wonks," students who were only interested in technology....The term tends to imply intense focus on one topic to the exclusion of much else....so folks here might hear you say "wonky" and think you meant something other than a wobbly wheel!

Im familiar with it but never use it. I have a lot of made up words. I try not to use them in general public but they slip out from time to time.

We use Schnibbies and Foozils for generalized garbage and dust on the floor.

Schmeery for a messy window,

and Floof for an escaped fart

We use "wonky" at my house to refer to something that is off kilter.

"Gradu" is a Cajun term for any kind of icky gunk on a surface. I get stares when I use that one outside of Louisiana.
My grandmother used to refer to chilly weather as "air-ish."

I've gotten stares when I use the word "grok." It's not one I made up; it's one that Robert Heinlein coined in "Stranger in a Strange Land." It means to understand something or someone one at the deepest possible level. Fellow sci-fi fans recognize the word immediately.

yes, it's perfectly clear to me what wonky means. Maybe she heard you wrong? Maybe she was just a strange person?

Wonky -
Off kilter
tilted
crooked

I use that word :)

I use it to mean off-kilter or messed up in some way. I also use "janky" - same thing.

My mom's Australian so I'm not sure if I use the word wonky because of her, or just because. It's one of my favorites though.

I use a few of her words, especially when I'm distracted and they just fall out. For example:
Trolley (instead of shopping cart)
Yabo
Chockablock
Dag / Daggy
Bugger
(hair) Lackey

Yes, I know what it means and I use it all the time!

To me Wonky means not quite straight, and a bit wiggly..
''Not suere how I learned this word.. But I like it.