[Ads-l] gobshite, gobshike
Jonathan Lighter
wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Tue Jul 11 22:43:26 UTC 2023
Early:
1914 _Arizona Daily Star (Tucson) (May 1) 1: "Gob" and "gobshite" are the
words most used by the blue-jacket in speaking of himself.
Late:
1920 _Passaic Daily Herald_ (Apr. 24) 7: Old-time sailor men differ as to
the origin of the word Gobshike, and some of the sailor men of a quarter
century ago contend that it just happened.
1922 _Beaumont [Tex.] Enterprise_ (Aug. 11) 8: Gobshite Hurlers Warming Up
On Deck Of Battleship.
1924 _Enid [Okla.] Daily Eagle_ (June 12) 4: No valorous deed...ever could
justify...the cut of such trousers as gobshikes wear perforce.
Weird:
1898 _Wilmington [Del] Daily Republican_ (June 2) 5: This popular [angling]
refrain will not be tolerated:
Minnie, minnie gobshite,
Bite at me.
Down goes the cork
And up comes she.
"Gobshite" is used in Irish English for a worthless individual, presumably
the origin of the naval term.
JL
--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
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