different between gaff vs faff

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)

1. 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!"

2. A minor error or faux pas, a gaffe.

3. A trick or con.

4. (nautical) The upper spar used to control a gaff-rigged sail.
5. A garment worn to hide the genitals.
6. (informal, uncountable) Clipping of gaffer tape.

Translations

Verb

gaff (third-person singular simple present gaffs, present participle gaffing, simple past and past participle gaffed)

1. To use a gaff, especially to land a fish.
2. To cheat or hoax.
3. (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.

4. (slang) To gamble.
5. (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

1. Rough or harsh treatment; criticism.
2. (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)

1. (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

English

Etymology

From a dialect word meaning "blow in gusts".

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /faf/, /fæf/
• Rhymes: -æf

Noun

faff (plural faffs)

1. (Britain, slang) An overcomplicated task, especially one perceived as a waste of time.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:nuisance
2. (typically in the phrase 'in a faff') A state of confused or frantic activity.

   Synonym: flap

Verb

faff (third-person singular simple present faffs, present participle faffing, simple past and past participle faffed)

1. (Britain, slang) To waste time on an unproductive activity.

   Synonyms: arse around, (American) dick around

Usage notes

• Particularly used with about or around.

Cimbrian

Etymology 1

From Middle High German pfaffe, from Old High German pfaffo, phapho, from Latin papa, from Byzantine Greek ????? (papâs), from Koine Greek ????? (pápas), from Ancient Greek ?????? (páppas). Cognate to German Pfaffe, Dutch paap. Doublet of baabost.

Noun

faff m (plural faffen)

1. (Luserna, Sette Comuni) priest

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

faff ?

1. (Luserna) lily (flower)

References

• “faff” in Martalar, Umberto Martello; Bellotto, Alfonso (1974) Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo
• “faff” in Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Ünsarne Börtar [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien