Old buffer [S. Worthen

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There are 17 comments on this entry. (Reply.)

Or, of course, found at the end of an abandoned railway line

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That was my first thought too - I spent far too much of my youth around railway enthusiasts.

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I'd have gone with the old man definition, except he's not necessarily foolish. There's an aura of Chap and ex-military about him. Don Quixote is one, a lot of characters played by Wilfred Hyde-White, James Robertson Justice, and every so often Alec Guinness. Those two elderly Englishmen that are always in train carriages muttering about the cricket while murder and armed rebellion go on over their heads. Colonel Blimp, Falstaff, Lord Emsworth. A sense of time and potential past.

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Lord Emsworth is a perfect example.

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I second all this.

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In that case, how does an old buffer differ from an old duffer?

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I would like to know this too!

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I would have said the two were synonymous.

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My, quite a bit younger than me, cousin is a retired CPO from the RCN. I don't think he'd take kindly to "old buffer".

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It's an old man, certainly, but not necessarily foolish -- more clownish or perhaps an object of mockery.

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An elderly gentleman of a certain socio-economic class, not necessarily limited to ex-navel personel.

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Familiar with old duffers and gaffers. Buffers, not so much.

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I'd heard 'old duffer' before, but not 'old buffer'.

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To me, a buffer used to be associated with the end of a railway track. It's the device that stops rolling stock from running off the end, although not, as some people think, to stop many hundred tons of locomotive from running off the end under power.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Train_wreck_at_Montparnasse_1895.jpg

An old buffer then, would be some ancient, or perhaps redundant, railway infrastructure. Memory banks haven't been around long enough to be old in my perspective.

An Old Duffer, is definitely the old man who can't get things right. I'm slowly becoming one.

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Could also be an elderly machine for polishing the floor. That's the first thing that springs to mind when hearing 'buffer' - something for polishing with (big or small, young or old!).

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Old Petty Officer - http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=116056

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Duffer's more common. I'd get what buffer meant, but I'd say duffer or codger over it and yes, I'd expect some sort of military background before 1970.

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S. Worthen | Weblog

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