A.Word.A.Day --gobemouche

A.Word.A.Day

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May 8, 2018

This week’s theme
Words derived from animals

This week’s words
black dog
gobemouche
mooncalf
pork barrel
railbird

Flycatcher (gobemouche, literal)

Photo: David Merrett

“No adverse effects on the nose, throat and sinuses of the group from smoking Chesterfield!” (gobemouche, figurative)

Photo: Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

gobemouche

PRONUNCIATION:

(GOB-moosh)

MEANING:

noun: A gullible or credulous person.

ETYMOLOGY:

From French gobe-mouche (flycatcher, sucker), from gober (to suck or swallow) + mouche (fly). Earliest documented use: 1818.

USAGE:

“My son asked me about buying 80 shares of Nike in his individual retirement account. I didn’t care for a company that made shoes for basketball players, telling him only a gobemouche would pay $100 for a pair of smelly sneakers.”
Malcolm Berko; Just Buy It; Creators Syndicate; Oct 4, 2017.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

No two persons ever read the same book. -Edmund Wilson, critic (8 May 1895-1972)

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