'Berk' has Cockney rhyming slang roots

A Commonwealth insult is to call someone a 'berk'. This is an abbreviation of the rhyming slang euphemism, "Berkshire Hunt" or - sometimes - "Berkeley Hunt".

If you don't know how Cockney rhyming slang works, it is finding a pair of linked words, with one that rhymes with the base word. You then use the non-rhyming word as a synonym for your original word. For example, the base word "stairs", has the linked pair of "apples and pears"; then you go up the 'apples' (not the stairs).

Michael Quinion, the etymological mage of http://www.worldwidewords.org/, confirms this here, while noting that, despite it looking as if it should be pronounced as "burk", Berkshire is actually pronounced as "Barkshih".

The Shorter Oxford Dictionary (Simpson & Weiner, 1989) defines Berkeley Hunt as:

"[The name of a celebrated hunt in Gloucestershire.] Rhyming slang for C*NT (usu. in sense 2, ‘a fool’)- Also ellipt. as Berkeley. Cf. the abbrev. BERK. 1937 Partridge Dict. Slang 48/1 Berkeley, the pudendum muliebre: C. 20. Abbr. Berkeley Hunt. 1937 Sir Berkeley [see sir sb. 1 b]. 1940 A. Bracey Flower on Loyalty 1. iii. 49 Lane’s face cleared. ‘Tell us, chum.’ ‘And spoil the nice surprise! Not bloody likely!’ ‘You always was a berkeley,’ said Lane cheerfully. ‘Well, I can wait.’ 1960 J. Franklyn Dict. Rhyming Slang 38/2 Berkeley hunt" (p. 125)

Most people use the term 'berk' without realising the underlying rhyming slang base word that they are actually referring to. Regardless, 'berk' is now simply considered to be a fairly mild - and vaguely sympathetic - way of telling someone they have been a plank...

Ha, ha: which I assume comes from "thick as a --".

Ah, the versatility of the English language :-)


Sam

References: 

• Quinion, M. (2011). 3. Q and A: Burke. http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/worldwidewords/2011-April.txt 
• Simpson, J. A., & Weiner, E. S. C. (Eds.) (1989). Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., Vol II BBC-Chalypsography). Clarendon Press.