buffer.
ok. what is it? what's a buffer?
i mean...i know what is per se...
but i want to, if need be, be able to use the term and actually know what it means!
HELP!
COSMOPOLATAN
cuz throwing up feels great!
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MovieChat Forums > The Riches (2007) Discussion > buffer.
From what I can tell from available sources, it seems to be a distortion of the word 'buffoon'.
Though I have read another theory that it has some sort of religious connotation that settled people, because of all their belongings and institutions, are removed from the pure experience of life and famililal love. In that theory 'buffer' is used like the term 'buffer zone' -- settled people have too much bulls hit around them.
I'm not a traveller and don't think I've ever known any, so your guess is as good as mine, but both theories sound plausible to me.
THANKYOU! :]
COSMOPOLATAN
cuz throwing up feels great!
I grew up in a really close-knit rural community, and the term buffer was used as fomocobaby described (generally it meant 'city slicker', but that exact definition was explained to me once).. We had a permanent home, but there were alot of traveller type ppl who matched the show to a T.. They'd come in groups seasonally, and ppl tended to either love, or HATE their presence.. You're better off getting along with ppl like that.. If they consider you a friend,typically you can trust them with your life, but if not, if they think you look down upon them then you'd better lock your stuff up tight.. Perhaps the travellers brought the term, but locals used it too..
That being said, as nice as most were, most also had a few screws loose, and you were much better off just drinking/hanging with them, than 'really' learning about what makes them tick.. I'm a pretty accepting guy, but I came across more profoundly disturbing situations with those crowds than anywhere else.. Granted part of the reason may have been due to their complete openess..
I'm curious/nosey! What profoundly disturbing situations did you find yourself in, cable232?
shareI never really found myself 'in' any situations, but heard alot.. Pedophilia/inbreeding, explanations for missing persons, arson, and in general just hearing enough about various criminal stuff like mega grow ops down south etc to fear that I could be considered a liability if word got back to the scarier bunch.. The show wasn't too far off the reality, although I never heard anything about forced child brides (family linking), and there didn't seem to be a chief analogous to Earl/Dale.. There was more independance it seemed, certain bunches rarely if ever interacted directly.. Somewhere in between The Riches, and Trailer Park Boys..:)
Alot of them were just regular laid back ppl.. Granted I didn't know any that were 100% law obiding, but heck, neither was I..:) Living in a place like I did though, you kept your mouth SHUT!! I only wish certain close friends remembered that when they got drunk and chatty.. I didn't want the details I got.. Nothing could be done to change it, the likely outcome of trying would be a shootout.. Issues were dealt with personally.. The vast majority of permanent locals there felt the same way.. Cops are for buffers..:)
Oh, rightio, thanks for replying.
Interesting stuff.
"Buffer," if I'm not mistaken, comes from traveler language. Meaning something like outsiders.
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It means buffer in the sense of a filler. Buffers fill up the space in time and life... they act as 'buffers.' Non-buffers, not only Travellers, are those who accomplish something greater or live their life to its fullest. Buffers have jobs where they make a lot of money, but never accomplish anything. Hugh's company caters to lawyers who cater to companies just like Panco. It's and endless circle of buffer.
I actually have traveller blood (from way back in Ireland). My relatives from not too many generations ago became buffers and now I live as a buffer (but only for now). Gypsy blood is thick.
I gotta admit laurzabeth, you definition of a buffer is by far the best one I've read yet. You nailed down almost perfectly what my Grandmama told me a buffer was. My grandparents came to America to escape Hitler, and I've always been proud of my bloodline and knowing just how far removed I am from it. Romany blood is thick, that's for sure. I plan on raising my future children with a mix of buffer values AND Rom values. (I want my future daughter to know the history of the women in our family since they were the ones who ruled the family- it was the Queen's way or no way. LOL.) I even plan on giving my children buffer first names and "gypsy" middle names.
Interesting fact about the word gypsy- it is believe to be a corrupted form of the word Egyptian because that's where gypsies are believed to have come from originally.
Not all who wander are lost.
In a sense, you have the definition of "buffer" correct. But the thing is, "buffer" isn't even a real traveller word. It is a word that was made up by the writers/producers just for the show. There is no traveller in the world who uses the word "buffer" for non travellers.
"May You Live As Long As You Want, And Never Want As Long As You Live."
~An old Irish blessing
This person, who claims to be a Traveller and maintains a site about Traveller culture, uses it: http://www.travellersrest.org/Controversy.htm
So, whether it's used a lot or used everywhere or not, the creators of the show didn't make it up.
Your link doesn't seem to go to anywhere except a holding page?
Life is like Wikipedia: There are no Facts, Just Popular Opinion
I agree with this theory. It makes sense in that way. A buffer is something you use to cut drugs, so you can have more of them. It takes up space.
We've met before, haven't we?
I had heard/read somewhere that the term 'buffer' was really just made up for this show (like many of the names of cons, and some of the cons themselves) by the writers. I think there was even an earlier post on this board about it. So either that's completely wrong or you all are making sh*t up! I grew up rurally, seen and met all classifications of "travelers" (not merely or necessarily Irish), and had never heard the term used, so I'm kinda thinking the latter.
shareI agree with raj3636 on this. And I will tell you right now that "buffer" is not a real word. Would you like to know how I know this? Because I myself am an Irish Traveller. I have never once heard that word used to non travellers and neither has any of my relatives, who have learned the language from the day they were born. The word buffer was made up for the show.
"May You Live As Long As You Want, And Never Want As Long As You Live."
~An old Irish blessing
According to the book "Gypsy Politics and Traveller Identity", 'Buffer' is the Irish Traveller word for 'Gaujo', the non-Traveller Irish.
Why the term 'Buffer'?
From what I understand, the settled Irish, or Buffers, were in the middle, or the "happy" medium, between the all-powerful English (who greatly influenced Irish culture, and shaped how Buffers not only saw themselves, but the way they saw Travellers) and the Travellers, who were once thought of as the descendents of the old Gaelic aristocracy-or descendents of pre-Celtic people conquered by the ancestors of today's Buffers-but now thought of as the lowest form of Irish society.
For the English, Travellers personified everything that is typically Irish, obviously not a good thing in the eyes of the English.