The other week I was having tea ("having tea") with my one (half British) (half Sudanese) friend (the brother of the brother-sister pair who I'm friends with), and he was like, "In Britain there's a rude word 'gob' for mouth, like 'shut your gob.'"
(The British are always making small talk about inanities, I've noticed, and this was another one.)
"Really?", I was like.
. . .
Later, I realized that that word might be etymologically related to this Britishcism "gabble" that I came across in a tabloid crossword his sister brought me (it's like "yap"), and even later, that it might be related to "goblet."
It's like "thimble" is the small thing on your "thumb," some etymologies become opaque over time, though if you look at them, they're totally there.
Friday, December 29, 2017
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