Git (slang)

Git is a mild pejorative with origins in British English for an unpleasant, silly, incompetent, stupid, annoying, senile, elderly or childish person. It is usually an insult, more severe than twit or idiot but less severe than wanker, arsehole or twat.

The word git first appeared in print in 1946, but is undoubtedly older. It is originally an alteration of the word get, dating back to the 14th century. A shortening of beget, get insinuates that the recipient is someone's misbegotten offspring and therefore a bastard. In parts of northern England, Northern Ireland and Scotland get is still used in preference to git; the get form is used in the Beatles song "I'm So Tired".

The word has been ruled by the Speaker of the House of Commons to be unparliamentary language.

The word was used self-deprecatingly by Linus Torvalds in naming the git source control package.