Knacker

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A knacker is a person in the trade of rendering animals that are unfit for human consumption, such as horses that can no longer work.^[1] This leads to the slang expression "knackered" meaning very tired, or "ready for the knacker’s yard", where old horses are slaughtered and made into dog food and glue. A knacker's yard or knackery is the place this takes place, as opposed to a slaughterhouse, where animals are slaughtered for human food. It can also be used to refer to tiredness after sexual intercourse.

[edit] Use of term

The term is used in this literal sense in British English and Irish English, and gained some notoriety during the outbreak of mad cow disease (BSE) in the United Kingdom. The Slaughterhouses Act 1974, the Meat (Sterilisation and Staining) Regulations 1982 and the Food Act 1984 all have a definition of a 'knacker's yard' as "any premises used in connection with the business of slaughtering, skinning or cutting up animals whose flesh is not intended for human consumption."

The remains are often used for pet food products or certain fertilizers. The kinds of animal processing which can occur at knackeries are defined by law, for example, in Australia by the federal Meat Inspection Act 1983.^[2]

[edit] Slang

"Knackered" meaning tired, exhausted, or broken in British and Irish slang is still commonly used in the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. "Knackers" is also British/Australasian slang for testicles¹ and the term "knacker" is sometimes used in Ireland to denote an Irish Traveller, though it is considered extremely derogatory. It can also be applied to a rural character equivalent to the urban scanger or scumbag which are both derogatory terms in themselves.

The British satirical magazine Private Eye often refers to senior police figures as "Inspector Knacker" or "Knacker of The Yard", a reference to Jack "Slipper of the Yard" Slipper.