Me gaff

davet82

where did the word 'gaf' (house) come from?

is it irish for something?

Dravokivich

I always thought it was spelt "Gaff."

davet82

Dravokivich wrote: »

I always thought it was spelt "Gaff."

could be, I've never actually seen it written down somewhere tbh

anncoates

It has its etymological basis in the fact that so many Irish people made a terrible gaff(e) buying houses in the last 10 years.

King George VI

Gaff is a horrible word. Just say house for ****s sake.

St. Jimmy

St. Jimmy wrote: »

Gaff is a horrible word. Just say house for ****s sake.

Uses swear words to give out about a word being horrible.

Hmmmm........

Ihatecuddles-old

gaff - slang for house or place. e.g. "I'll meet you round my gaff in 10 minutes" and "He was all over the gaff" (all over the place). Originates from the 19th century when a 'gaff' was a slang term for a fairground or place of cheap entertainment.

I've always said gaf, I'm classy like that.

davet82

Ihatecuddles wrote: »

gaff - slang for house or place. e.g. "I'll meet you round my gaff in 10 minutes" and "He was all over the gaff" (all over the place). Originates from the 19th century when a 'gaff' was a slang term for a fairground or place of cheap entertainment.

I've always said gaf, I'm classy like that.

its been knocking around for a fair bit of time then

thanks for the info

Dravokivich

Ihatecuddles wrote: »

gaff - slang for house or place. e.g. "I'll meet you round my gaff in 10 minutes" and "He was all over the gaff" (all over the place). Originates from the 19th century when a 'gaff' was a slang term for a fairground or place of cheap entertainment.

I've always said gaf, I'm classy like that.

That's all I took from the above post :cool:

Jhcx

Next ye'll be saying pad and crib. I'll stick to the house or apartment terminology

IceFjoem

It comes from the French, gaffe, an embarrassing error. Rousseau first coined the phrase "gaffes sans réserve" (errors without reservation, or 'free errors') in 1752 as an ideal, a 'do what you want' way of living for which he was revered.

davet82

IceFjoem wrote: »

It comes from the French, gaffe, an embarrassing error. Rousseau first coined the phrase "gaffes sans réserve" (errors without reservation, or 'free errors') in 1752 as an ideal, a 'do what you want' way of living for which he was revered.

I think Ihatecuddles explanation to its origins sounds more likely

IceFjoem

davet82 wrote: »

I think Ihatecuddles explanation to its origins sounds more likely

Please, Rousseau is well known to be France's wildest philosopher.

rubadub

davet82 wrote: »

its been knocking around for a fair bit of time then

thanks for the info

I remember it all the time in school ~20 years ago. Usually said as "free gaff", meaning the parents were away, "free house" was also used

Jhcx wrote: »

Next ye'll be saying pad and crib. I'll stick to the house or apartment terminology

"free apartment" sounds crap , and I think pad & crib are both american slang and gaff would have been used by many to specifically avoid using american slang. So I can't see it "being next"

suicide_circus

Gaff is Ffag spelt backwards

davet82

IceFjoem wrote: »

Please, Rousseau is well known to be France's wildest philosopher.

Not around inner city Dublin he isn't :P

BraziliaNZ

They say it in London too so I'd imagine it originated here

davet82

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

They say it in London too so I'd imagine it originated here

really? I've never heard it used in an English accent. could have been imported by irish no?

Ash.J.Williams

I like this sort of thing...

my favourite is "kip" as in "your gaff is a kip" or "i'm going to bed to get some kip"

"the prostitutes of Monto used to sleep in kip houses after work"

Duckworth_Luas

davet82 wrote: »

really? I've never heard it used in an English accent. could have been imported by irish no?

Sound like something Sir Terry Venebles would say on Match of the Day, "The defender, see here, roigh, was all over the gaff, innit!"

Ruu

I prefer 'pad' myself.

davet82

Ruubot2 wrote: »

I prefer 'pad' myself.

'my pad' - don't like it , always makes me think of tampax

BrianJD

Dravokivich wrote: »

I always thought it was spelt "Gaff."

I always thought is was spelt "spelled"

Duckworth_Luas

BrianJD wrote: »

I always thought is was spelt "spelled"

No "is" is spelled is!

kneemos

Gaff is English in origin me thinks.

kneemos

Duckworth_Luas wrote: »

No "is" is spelled is!

Is it?

davet82

Duckworth_Luas wrote: »

No "is" is spelled is!

this is getting ridiculous :pac:

Duckworth_Luas

kneemos wrote: »

Is it?

No "it" is spelled it!

Busted Flat.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=gaff&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&ved=0CEIQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.urbandictionary.com%2Fdefine.php%3Fterm%3Dgaff&ei=dh11UdyYNOve7Abh74DgCw&usg=AFQjCNGDefYkIHev-tB7YDx5CoSzvkQUFA&bvm=bv.45512109,d.ZGU

WoollyRedHat

Our gaff, in the middle of our street, Our gaff in the middle of our...
wha'

Paramite Pie

Jhcx wrote: »

Next ye'll be saying pad and crib. I'll stick to the house or apartment terminology

No we won't, Americans have their own slang and we have ours. The word gaff has been around much longer than mtv as far as I know.

Looks like the word may have been originated in England but I think it's more widely used in Ireland.

du Maurier

Saying "me" instead of "my" in that context leaves a lot to be desired too.

9959

du Maurier wrote: »

Saying "me" instead of "my" in that context leaves a lot to be desired too.

Where's me jumper?

Mr Whirly

Jhcx wrote: »

Next ye'll be saying pad and crib. I'll stick to the house or apartment terminology

Aportment is worse. Its just a posh word for flat.

Dravokivich

Mr Whirly wrote: »

Aportment is worse. Its just a posh word for flat.

For a flat by the docks no less.

Latchy

I'm leppen with the hunger so I'm off home to the Gaff for a Scran ...only in Dublin .

Mr Whirly

Dravokivich wrote: »

For a flat by the docks no less.

Spelled phonetically so the people that think they live in one know what I'm talking about.

Kolido

If a house is called a gaff, head of the house is called the gaffer, right?

or is that only the Staunton household?

partyatmygaff

It's Irish/Scottish (which is probably why you hear it in Northern England and London). Probably started off from "gaffer" for head of the house/pub.

(After all, if there's anyone who'd know, it's me )

davet82

Kolido wrote: »

If a house is called a gaff, head of the house is called the gaffer, right?

I only made the connection after reading this