gripe

[Jonathan Lighter]

_Gives me the gip_ seems not to exist in the U.S., though my grandfather
used the once common _gives me the pip_ 'makes me angry or annoyed.'

JL


On Mon, Oct 18, 2010 at 7:56 PM, Robin Hamilton <
robin.hamilton3 at virginmedia.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Robin Hamilton <robin.hamilton3 at VIRGINMEDIA.COM>
> Subject:      Re: gripe
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> > Note: common British _pissed_ 'drunk' is poorly attested in the U.S.
> > before
> > ca1980 and is still infrequent.  British _piss off_ 'go away' is likewise
> > recent and infrequent here.  I suspect that what currency they each have
> > comes significantly from exposure to British rock culture.
> >
> > JL
>
> "Pissed" (drunk) and "pissed off" (annoyed, as in "I'm pissed off," "that
> really pisses me off") along with "piss off!" (go away) coexist in current
> British English.  Dunno to what degree some of these locutions reflect
> American usage.
>
> But as for "gripe", there's the possibly analogous British expression,
> "that
> gives me the gip [sic, pronounced <djip>]", literally, causes a stabbing
> pain in my intestine but more usually found in the metaphorical form,
> "annoys me", "gets right up my nose".
>
> Much to my surprise, "gives me the gip" seems to be sparsely attested on
> any
> of the three googles, whether general, news, or books.  Odd that, but --
> thought the phrase was common as dirt.
>
> (Probably totally unconnected, and possibly an artefact of the translation
> process, but in 1528 Johann Faust was apparently told by the good burgers
> of
> Ingolstadt to piss off out of town.  The translation reads, "told to spend
> his penny elsewhere".)
>
> Robin
>
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