the.com/punter
Someone betting on an outcome they only pretend to understand.
means A person who gambles or takes a speculative chance on something — originally someone who placed bets against the bank at cards, now anyone having a flutter or just a regular customer or bloke in British slang.
from From French 'ponter', meaning to play against the bank at card games like faro or baccarat — the 'punt' was the gambler's stake or bet itself. English absorbed 'punter' in the 18th century for the card-table gambler, then it drifted sideways through the 20th century to cover betting-shop regulars, and eventually loosened further in British slang into a catch-all word for any customer, client, or ordinary punter-on-the-street — the house always implicitly in the background, even when no cards are involved.
- origin
- british slang for customer or gambler, 1800s
- etymology
- from punto banco, a card betting game
- soccer sense
- also means a player who kicks aimlessly, far
- finance use
- wall street slang for small retail investor