How offensive is calling someone "dodgy"?

Dodgy is not generally used to refer to a person; in the expression "dodgy Dave" was probably that "Dave" did dodgy things:

• There should be no shame in incorporating expressive informal Britishisms into American usage. Dodgy (pronounced DAHJ-ee) is a particularly useful one in its range of possibilities.

• It derived in the mid-nineteenth century, obviously, from dodge, the verb for slipping aside evasively, the noun for a trick or cheat. The “slipping aside” sense turned up early, dodgy understood as indicating “tricky” or “evasive.”

• But its suspect quality quickly expanded into the senses of “risky or uncertain,” “dishonest or unreliable,” “potentially dangerous,” and finally, “of low quality.” You can enter into a dodgy business transaction with a dodgy partner, with dodgy consequences from vending dodgy wares.

  • Example: From a 2009 article in Rolling Stone, “50 Reasons to Watch TV,” about Glee: “It seemed like a dodgy idea at first—a dramedy about adolescent show-tune queens, from Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy.”

In this context dodgy means dishonest or ethically questionable.

This is considered unparliamentary language. In particular, accusations of being dishonest or dishonourable are taboo, as in this BBC list.

MPs should not:

• call another member a liar
• suggest another MP has false motives
• describe another member as "drunk"
• misrepresent another MP's language
• use abusive or insulting language.