nerts

or nertz

[nurts]

interjection Older Slang.

nuts(def 1).

Origin of nerts

First recorded in 1930–35; by alteration

nuts

[nuhts]Slang.

interjection

Also nerts, nertz. (used to express disgust, defiance, disapproval, despair).

adjective

insane; crazy.

Origin of nuts

First recorded in 1900–05; plural of nut

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for nertz

nuts

adjective

a slang word for insane

(foll by about or on) slang extremely fond (of) or enthusiastic (about)

interjection

slang an expression of disappointment, contempt, refusal, or defiance

pl n

a slang word for testiclesSee testicle

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for nertz

interj.

1932, originally American English college slang, colloquial or euphemistic pronunciation of nuts as a slang retort of defiance or dismissal (1931).

nuts

adj.

"crazy," 1846, from earlier be nutts upon "be very fond of" (1785), which is possibly from nuts (plural noun) "any source of pleasure" (1610s), from nut (q.v.). Sense influenced probably by metaphoric application of nut to "head" (1846, e.g. to be off one's nut "be insane," 1860). Nuts as a derisive retort is attested from 1931.

Connection with the slang "testicle" sense has tended to nudge it toward taboo. "On the N.B.C. network, it is forbidden to call any character a nut; you have to call him a screwball." ["New Yorker," Dec. 23, 1950] "Please eliminate the expression 'nuts to you' from Egbert's speech." [Request from the Hays Office regarding the script of "The Bank Dick," 1940] This desire for avoidance accounts for the euphemism nerts (c.1925).