 A part of the forthcoming book, The Septic's Companion. A B C D E F GH I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z   These are the last three beers people kinder than you bought me. Click on them to see more or buy me one. Feel guilty? Think of the children I might have, and such like. |
gaffe n your home. Rather a London-centric word. The shorter word "gaff" (to make a foolish error) is the same in both UK and US English. gaffer n bloke in charge. It primarily refers to the foreman of a building site, but can be used universally. In the film industry, the "gaffer" is the set's chief electrician, in charge of pretty much anything with wires attached to it. This may or may not be relevant. gaffer tape n duct tape. Sort of. The heavy, slightly meshed sticky tape used to silence potential murder victims and to reliably and effectively attach small animals to tables. Unlike duct tape, gaffer tape is designed not to melt onto things, and is used extensively in the theatre and film industry. Probably derived from the fact that the Gaffer is the chief electrician on a film set. G-clamp n C-clamp. I'd say they look more like 'G's. gear lever n the "stick" of a stick-shift car. This applies to cars with manual transmission - automatic cars in the UK are reserved for pensioners, the serverly disabled and American tourists. gearbox n transmission. This is the box of gears that sits between the engine and the prop shaft of a car. "Transmission" technically includes all sorts of sundries as well as the gearbox itself. geezer n dude. While Americans use "geezer" too, it implies someone much older and with much less street-cred than the British version. Geordie n someone from Newcastle, or thereabouts. get off v snog. You may have to look that up. This must not be confused with the US term "to get someone off", which means, well, rather a lot more. giddy n is dizziness or vertigo. In the US this means silliness and/or giggling - the British definition is more of a medical condition. The British driving license application form asks the applicant whether they are "subject to excessive giddiness". git n Tricky one to define. What it doesn't mean is what The Waltons meant when they said it (as in "git outta here, John-Boy"). "Git" is technically an insult but has a twinge of jealousy to it. You'd call someone a "git" if they'd won the Readers' Digest Prize Draw, outsmarted you in a battle of wits or been named in Bill Gates' Last Will and Testament because of a spelling mistake. Like "sod", it has a friendly tone to it. It may be derived from Arabic, or it may be a contraction of the word "illegitimate". Or neither. give over interj "give me a break": "When are you going to stop watching telly and get your homework done?" / "Jesus mum, give over". give way interj yield. This phrase on a road sign means that at the junction you're approaching, other traffic has the right of way. They are white triangular signs (with the point up) with a red line around then; Americans have instead yellow ones pointing down with "Yield" written on them. glass v the act of breaking a glass and shoving the bottom of it into someone's face, thereby causing some degree of distress. Popular amongst pikeys. gob 1 n mouth. Almost always used in the context "shut your gob". 2 v to spit. It's possible the word si derived from Gaelic, where it means a bird's beak, or from the English navy, where it was used widely to refer to the toilet. gobshite Scot. n 1 bullshit. Intended to refer to the metaphorical shite that is coming out of your gob:"Jimmy said he was in the Olympic ski team but to be honest I think it's all gobshite" 2 the person who is emitting said matter: "I wouldn't believe anything Anne says, she's a wee gobshite". gobsmacked adj surprised; taken aback. googly n a cricketing term for a ball bowled such that it bounces unpredictably when it lands. Gordon Bennett interj a general-purpose expletive, used very much in the one-liner context of things like "Bollocks!" or "Jesus Christ!": "Your brother Tommy's won the lottery!" / "Gordon Bennett!" Its source lies in the mid-19th century with James Gordon Bennett, son of the founder of the New York Herald and Associated Press (also called Gordon Bennett, in case you thought this was going to be simple). Born with cash to spare, Gordon Jr. became legendary for high-roller stunts and fits of notariety including urinating in his in-laws' fireplace, and burning money in public. His name entered the lexicon as a term of exclamation for anything a bit over the top. gormless adj slightly lacking in the common sense department; a bit daft. The word (as "gaumless") also exists in Scots-derived American English with the same meaning but is not in common use. grammar n textbook. grass 1 n snitch; informer. 2 v the act of informing on someone. Normally used in the context of criminals "grassing" on each other to the police, but I certainly remember being "grassed up" at school for going to MacDonalds instead of Modern Studies. If I could remember who it was who squealed, I'd name and shame him but right at this very minute I can't recall. Like Americans, Brits do use this as slang for marijuana. green fingers n characteristic of a person particularly good at looking after plants. Americans, curiously, would say they had "green thumbs". Difficult to imagine how these two different terms arose, but there you go. grizzle n grumble or moan, much like "whinging". Often used to refer to grumpy babies. grotty adj undesirable in a disgusting way. Your mother might use it to describe your room, or your girlfriend might use it to describe your whole flat. Or maybe you're cleaner than I am. guff v break wind. Presumably some sort of derivation of "chuff" or vice versa. I'm not sure whether it's related or not, but you can also use "guff" to imply verbiage, in a sense like: "I asked him what happened, but he just gave me a load of guff". Not to be confused with "gaff". Guinea n an old unit of currency in the UK. Worth "one pound and one shilling", a Guinea coin was minted from 1731 until 1813. The somewhat curious value is because it was created largely to cater for auction-houses, where for each pound the seller receives for his goods, the auctioneer takes a shilling (5%). The buyer, therefore, pays a Guinea. gutted adj having had a huge disappointment. You might use it to describe your state of health after your football team were beaten eight nill and you dropped your car keys in a pond. guv'nor n the boss. A very Cockney term. While I've no doubt this derives from the word "governor", I can guarantee that you'll never hear the missing letters being pronounced or even written. gyp n irritating pain. You could equally well refer to your old war-wound or your next door neighbour "giving you gyp". Interestingly, in the US "gypping" is cheating.