different between gaff vs baff
gaff
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?æf/
- Rhymes: -æf
Etymology 1
From Middle English gaffe, from Old French gaffe, from Old Occitan gaf (“hook”), derivative of gafar (“to seize”), from Gothic ????????????????- (gaff-) derived from ???????????????????? (giban, “to give”). Doublet of gaffe.
Noun
gaff (countable and uncountable, plural gaffs)
- A tool consisting of a large metal hook with a handle or pole, especially the one used to pull large fish aboard a boat.
- Synonym: hakapik
- 1997, Mark Kurlansky, Cod: a Biography of the Fish That Changed the World:
- When Leonard finally hauls up a cod of seventy-five centimeters, probably seven years old, a typical catch ten years ago, they all joke, "Oh my God, get the gaff!"
- A minor error or faux pas, a gaffe.
- A trick or con.
- (nautical) The upper spar used to control a gaff-rigged sail.
- A garment worn to hide the genitals.
- (informal, uncountable) Clipping of gaffer tape.
Translations
Verb
gaff (third-person singular simple present gaffs, present participle gaffing, simple past and past participle gaffed)
- To use a gaff, especially to land a fish.
- To cheat or hoax.
- (transitive) To doctor or modify for deceptive purposes.
- 1993, Betty Lou Wolfe, ?Marian Jean Gray, The Way We Were: Reflections from the 1930's (page 23)
- When the operator began losing, he gaffed the wheel and then the patron had no chance to win. With his secret device an experienced grifter could stop the wheel at will on any number.
- 1977, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin (volume 46, issue 9, page 8)
- However, this apathy will quickly disappear if it is learned the friendly game involves marked (gaffed) cards.
- 1989, Penn & Teller's Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends (page 96)
- You will be using gaffed cards: a double faced card.
- 1993, Betty Lou Wolfe, ?Marian Jean Gray, The Way We Were: Reflections from the 1930's (page 23)
- (slang) To gamble.
- (transitive, informal) To affix gaffer tape to, or cover with gaffer tape.
Translations
Derived terms
- gaffer
Etymology 2
Perhaps from Old English gafspr?c (“buffoonery, scurrility; blasphemous or ribald speech”), from Old English gaf (“base, vile, lewd”) + Old English spr?c (“language, speech, talk”)
Noun
gaff
- Rough or harsh treatment; criticism.
- (dated) An outcry; nonsense.
Derived terms
- blow the gaff
Etymology 3
Unknown. Possibly from Etymology 1, via a sense of “a place that will be robbed” in criminal argot; possibly from Etymology 2, via a sense of "cheap theatre"; possibly from Romani gav (“village”) (whence German Kaff (“village”)).
Alternative forms
- gaf
Noun
gaff (plural gaffs)
- (Britain, especially Manchester and Cockney, Ireland, slang, Glaswegian) A place of residence.
- We're going round to Mike's gaff later to watch the footie.
Anagrams
- aff'g
gaff From the web:
- what gaffer means
- what gaffes mean
- what's gaffer tape
- what's gaffers tape used for
- what's gaff tape
- what's gaffa in english
- what's gaffa tape
- what does gaffer mean
baff
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bæf/
- Rhymes: -æf
Etymology 1
From Middle English baffen (“to bark”). Cognate with Dutch baffen (“to bark”), Low German baffen (“to bark”), German baffen, bäfzen (“to bark”), Danish bjæffe (“to yelp”), Swedish bjäbba (“to yelp, bark”). Compare buff, yaff.
Verb
baff (third-person singular simple present baffs, present participle baffing, simple past and past participle baffed)
- (intransitive, archaic) To bark; yelp.
Etymology 2
Probably from Scots baff, beff, bauf, probably from West Flemish baf, baffe (“a blow, slap in the face”). Compare also Old French baffe (“slap in the face”) (Modern French baffe), of imitative origin.
Verb
baff (third-person singular simple present baffs, present participle baffing, simple past and past participle baffed)
- To hit or strike, especially with something flat or soft.
- (golf) To strike the ground with the bottom of the club when taking a stroke.
Derived terms
- baffed out
Etymology 3
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun
baff (uncountable)
- (Tyneside) blank (Can we add an example for this sense?)
References
- Frank Graham (1987) The New Geordie Dictionary, ?ISBN
- Northumberland Words, English Dialect Society, R. Oliver Heslop, 1893–4
German
Etymology
Onomatopoeic
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /baf/
Adjective
baff (not comparable)
- (colloquial, chiefly predicative) flabbergasted
Declension
Further reading
- “baff” in Duden online
baff From the web:
- what baffled means
- what baffles me
- what baffled military leaders
- what baffles you
- what baffling rant
- what baffling things make
- what baffle does mean
- what baffin boots are waterproof