To: ottbmare; The Invisible Hand
As a self appointed "know it all" on the British vernacular, Cockney rhyming slang and other irrelevant minutiae, allow me to interject. "Gob" is slang for "mouth", not "face". As in ........."shut yer gob"!
Thus, "gobsmacked" derives from the act of slapping the palm of one's hand across one's open mouth when startled or surprised.
A "face" is sometimes referred to as a "dial" (as in clock face, or dial) and in Cockney rhyming slang is known as "a boat race".
Yes, I know..............too much information.
14 posted on
09/21/2010 11:48:00 AM PDT by
marshmallow
("A country which kills its own children has no future" -Mother Teresa of Calcutta)
To: marshmallow
ogawd. it’s like picking a scab. it just gets worse.
To: marshmallow; The Invisible Hand
As in ........."shut yer gob"! There's a bit that comes after that normally...
The only time I've noticed gobsmacked on freep is when it was associated with a story from the UK or a UK blogger.
Obviously though someone needs a Python care package for Christmas...
20 posted on
09/21/2010 12:03:02 PM PDT by
Legatus
(Keep calm and carry on)
To: marshmallow
My gosh! Is there a printed dictionary for this stuff?
21 posted on
09/21/2010 12:04:36 PM PDT by
vladimir998
(Part of the Vast Catholic Conspiracy (hat tip to Kells))
To: marshmallow
Thanks for the clarification. Point is, there’s nothing wrong with using the expression.
36 posted on
09/21/2010 4:15:20 PM PDT by
ottbmare
(off-the-track Thoroughbred mare)
To: marshmallow
Cockney rhyming slang is always interesting, continually amusing, but sometimes just downright confusing!
40 posted on
09/22/2010 2:03:08 PM PDT by
SuziQ
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