"gel with"

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

letter to the editor (NYT 6/4/08, p. A22) from Jeff Robbins of Long
Beach NY:

What popped into my head, a few minutes later, was the thought that we
humans are atoms that have self-organized into a means of recognizing
that we are the universe looking at itself, with science as the
uniquely human means of systematically communicating the multitude of
views into patterns of truth.

   For me, this gels with Dr. Greene's observation in his Op-Ed
article that "science is the greatest of all adventure stories, one
that's been unfolding for thousands of years as we have sought to
understand ourselves and our surroundings."

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this has "gel with" in a use very close to "jibe with" 'be in harmony
or accord with, agree with, fit with', a sense i don't recall having
heard before.  not in the OED for "gel" or "jell".

298 webhits (with "similar entries" omitted) for {"it gels with"}
today, among them:

I think this is why a majority of Africans tend to be Christian, not
because of the missionaries but because it gels with who we are.
(Religion and Reconciliation in South Africa, 2003)
books.google.com/books?isbn=1932031286...

Have a look at these 2 links and see if any of it gels with your own
knowledge/experience in this area.
libertarianalliance.wordpress.com/.../

Precisely what this means remains ambivalent and exactly how it gels
with the second particularist argument remains unclear. (The Nature of
Political Theory, 2004)
books.google.com/books?isbn=0199271259...

arnold

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