Galoptious or Galuptious, adj. (popular).—Delightful; a general superlative.
1887. Judy, 21 Sept., p. 140. Four young ladies represented the galopshus sum of 20,000,000 dollars.
Galore (also gallore and golore),
adv. (old; now recognised).—In
abundance; plenty.
[Irish and Gaelic go leor = in
plenty.]
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p 14. Galore of alcohol to ratify the trade.
1856. C. Reade, Never Too Late, ch. lx. He found rogues galore, and envious spirits that wished the friends ill.
1891. Licensed Vic. Mirror, 30 Jan., p. 1, c. 1. Of chit-chat this week we have galore, and the difficulty is how to sift the wheat from the chaff.
Galumph, verb. (American).—To
bump along (Onomatopœia).
1888. New York World, 13 May. The young man tackled the driver of a green bobtail car that galumphed through Lewis Street at a high rate of speed.
Galvanised Yankee, subs. phr.
(American Civil War).—A Grey-back
(q.v.) who took the oath to
the North and served in its
armies.
Gam, subs. (thieves').—1. Pluck;
gameness.
1888. Cassell's Saturday Journal, 8 Dec., p. 260. I'm not so sure about his lack of cunnin', speed, or gam.
2. (American thieves')—Stealing (Matsell, 1859).
Verb. (American thieves').—1. To steal.
2. (American).—To engage in social intercourse; to make a call; to have a chat. See Gamming.
Gamaliel, subs. (colloquial).—A
pedant; a person curious of the
letter and the form: e.g., 'these
Gamaliels of the theory' = these
ultra-puritans, to whom the spirit
is nothing.
Gamaruche, subs. (venery).—See
Cunnilingist and Cock-Teaser.
Verb (venery).—To
irrumate; to Bag-pipe (q.v.).
Also to cunnilinge (q.v.). Fr.,
gamahucher.
Gamb (or Gam), subs. (old).—A
leg. In use also in this sense as
an heraldic term. [It., gambe;
Fr., jambe; probably through
Lingua Franca.] For synonyms,
see Drumsticks and Pins.
1789. Geo. Parker, Life's Painter, p. 143. If a man has bow legs, he has queer gams, gams being cant for legs.
1796. Grose, Vulg. Tongue (3rd ed.), s.v.
1819. Moore, Memorial, p. 61. Back to his home, with tottering gams.
1887. Henley, Villon's Good Night. At you I merely lift my gam.
[To flutter a gam = to dance; to lift a gam = to break wind; to gam it = to walk; to run away; to leg it (q.v.)].
Gamble, subs. (colloquial).—A
venture: a flutter (q.v.).
1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 250. And you know the Flying Scud was the biggest gamble of the crowd.
Gambler, subs. (old, now recognised).
See quots.
1778. Bailey, Eng. Dict. Gambler, a guinea-dropper; one class of sharpers.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue. Gambler, a sharper; a tricking gamester.
1816. Johnson, Eng. Dict. (11th ed.). Gambler, a cant word, I suppose. A knave whose practice it is to invite the unwary to game and cheat them.
