clanker

English

Etymology

From clank +‎ -er, onomatopoeic.

The sense meaning "robot" appears in science fiction at least as early as 1958. Its broader popular use increased on social media beginning around 2024, due to the AI boom. In this wave of usage, it was especially influenced by the word's appearance in the Star Wars franchise, particularly the 2005 video game Star Wars: Republic Commando. In Star Wars, the term was used towards B1-series battle droids, which were humanoid robots that were manufactured for the sole purpose of fighting in armed conflicts. Their nickname of "clanker" stems from the fact that they would frequently make clanking noises any time they moved around due to being cheaply mass-produced.

Pronunciation

• (non-rhotic)
  • (Received Pronunciation, Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈklæŋkə/, [ˈkʰl̥æŋkə]
  • (Standard Southern British) IPA^(key): /ˈklaŋkə/

  • Audio:

    (file)

• (rhotic)
  • (General American)
    • (without æ-raising) IPA^(key): /ˈklæŋkɚ/, [ˈkʰl̥æŋkɚ]
    • (æ-raising) IPA^(key): /ˈkleɪ̯ŋkɚ/, [kʰl̥eɪ̯ŋkɚ]; [kʰl̥ɛ̃ŋkɚ]
• Rhymes: -æŋkə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: clan‧ker

Noun

clanker (plural clankers)

1. Something that makes a clanking noise.
   • 1611, George Wilkins, The Miseries of Inforst Mariage, London: George Vincent, page 36:

     Hurt him, hang him, Scrape-trencher, Stare-wearer, Wine-ſpiller, Mettle-clanker, Rogue by generation : Why dost heare Will?

   • 1950 [1899], Maxim Gorky, translated by Margaret Wettlin, Foma Gordeyev, Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, page 54:

     Poor boys have got to study hard. Then they’ll get rich too—they’ll be doctors, and officers, and officials. I want to be a clanker—with a sword at my side and spurs on my boots—clank, clank!

   • 2007 September 9, Jennifer Dunning, “Choreographic Evidence That Laughing Matters”, in New York Times‎^[5]:

     The robots, designed by Kenjiro Okazaki, are cardboard tubes rather than the usual metal clankers.

2. (Internet slang, derogatory, humorous, originally science fiction) A robot or artificial intelligence.

   Alternative form: clanka

   Synonyms: cogsucker, rust monkey, tinskin, wireback

   I got laid off 'cause they got them goddamn clankers taking our jobs.

   • 2005 March 1, John A. Hancock, Ryan Kaufman, Justin Lambros, Michael Stemmie, Star Wars: Republic Commando, spoken by Sev (Jonathan David Cook):

     Lousy clanker.

   • 2008 October 3, George Lucas, Steven Melching, “Ambush”, in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, season 1, episode 1, spoken by Jek (Dee Bradley Baker):

     Okay clankers, suck lasers!

   • 2024 October 12, @Banbuds, Twitter‎^[6], archived from the original on 5 June 2025:

     Already can't stand these fucking clankers

   • 2024 October 19, @solid_n8, Instagram‎^[7], archived from the original on 7 June 2025:

     Could i call a robot a clanker one day or would i have to stop when they gain conciousness^[sic] like in Detroit become human

   • 2025 August 31, Eli Tan, “How ‘Clanker’ Became an Anti-A.I. Rallying Cry”, in The New York Times‎^[8], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     The most popular genre of clanker content are videos of people acting out a future, usually a few decades away, where A.I.-powered robots are so ubiquitous that they become their own kind of second-class citizen. In this future, there is “cross platform” marriage between clankers and humans, humans-only drinking fountains and even more animosity toward robots than today.

     (Can we archive this URL?)

   • 2026 March 30, bozzelliandsonheatingandair, Instagram:

     Vapes are a deep state psyop designed to condition us to enjoy sucking robot dicks once AI takes away all our jobs and the only thing left for humanity is to be sex slaves for robots!!!! Real eyes realize clanker lies!!! Don't fall for it!!! Open your eyes!!!

3. (This is a hot sense, kept provisionally) (Internet slang, by extension) A person who uses automated technology or generative AI.

   Education is getting overtaken by clankers.

4. (slang) A fib.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:lie

   Stop telling clankers!

   • 1899, Paul Leicester Ford, Janice Meredith, page 388:

     Have done with all thought of the fellow and of his clankers concerning his birth.

   • 2010, Maggie MacKeever, Our Tabby, →ISBN:

     "What a clanker!" Drusilla protested. "You're hardly setting us a good example, Pa!"

   • 2020, Anna Lee Huber, A Stroke of Malice, →ISBN, page 41:

     His lips quirked. "It's more likely you'll wish to spend the evening debating whether these clankers his lordship is telling us are true, and how they originated."

Usage notes

• (derogatory: robot): Usage by many Internet users has clear parallels with racism, such as quips about clanka or clanker with a hard r and synonyms such as wireback derived from wetback.

Translations

one that clanks

• Finnish: kolistaja (fi)
• Indonesian: pelentang, pengelentung

slur for robots

• French: tas de ferraille (fr) m, boîte de conserve (fr) f
• German: Clanker m (Internet slang, anglicism)
• Italian: ferraglia (it) f
• Russian: жестя́нка (ru) f (žestjánka)

fib — see fib

Further reading

• “clanker n. (gross, deliberate lie)”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present.
• [Francis Grose] (1785), “Clanker”, in A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, London: […] S. Hooper, […], →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Lackner, crankle