Word of the day: boffin

The Economist article "In the Beginning" (reposted on Richard Dawkins's website) uses the word boffin: "His ally Father Coyne, the devoted star-gazer, is one of the relatively few boffins who have managed to expound with equal passion both their scientific views and their religious beliefs." I think maybe I've heard the word before, but I had no clear idea what was meant here. Turns out it's a mildly derogatory British colloquialism referring to scientists, engineers, and other people who are stereotypically seen as engaged in technical or scientific research. So, another thing to add to the nerd/geek/dork Venn diagram.