different between oafish vs gomer

English

Etymology

oaf +? -ish

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?o?f??/

Adjective

oafish (comparative more oafish, superlative most oafish)

1. Characteristic of or resembling an oaf; clumsy, stupid.

Derived terms

• oafishness

Translations

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Latin gomor in the Vulgate, from Ancient Greek ????? (gomór) in the Septuagint, from Hebrew ????? ('ómer, “sheaf; unit of dry measure”)

Noun

gomer (plural gomers)

1. (historical units of measure, archaic) Alternative form of omer: a former Hebrew unit of dry volume equal to about 2.3 L or 2.1 quarts.

Etymology 2

After Louis-Gabriel de Gomer, the French artillery officer who invented the design. Attested in English since the early nineteenth century.

Noun

gomer (plural gomers)

1. A conical chamber at the breech of the bore in heavy ordnance, especially in mortars.

Etymology 3

Likely from the oafish fictional character Gomer Pyle from the 1960s American sitcom The Andy Griffith Show.

Noun

gomer (plural gomers)

1. (slang, derogatory) A stupid, awkward, or oafish person.
   • 2005, Ralph Hardy, Lefty, iUniverse (2004), ?ISBN, page 25:

     “Lordy Jeezus,” he said out loud. When did he become such a gomer?

   • 2007, Brian McDaniel, Walt Disney World: The Full Report, iUniverse (2007), ?ISBN, page 147:

     Okay, you wanted to go to the Big Apple, but didn't want to sit in traffic or feel like a country hic, as you stare up at all 'dem big buildins'. Try Universal Studios Florida's version of New York, where you can stare at all the fake big buildings all you want and not feel like a total Gomer.

   • 2008, Julie Johnson Oliver, I've Been 16 for 34 Years, Groveland Branch Press (2008), ?ISBN, page 72:

     Everyone will have to guess who I want to dance with tonight, I thought. I'm not giving myself away to this bunch of gomers. That would be way too embarrassing.

2. (US, military slang, derogatory) An inept trainee or serviceperson.
3. (US, military slang) An opponent in combat or in training.

Synonyms

• (a stupid person): See Thesaurus:idiot.

Hyponyms

• Gomerette

Etymology 4

Uncertain. Perhaps the same as, or influenced by Etymology 3, above. It is frequently claimed that the word is an acronym for "grand old man of the emergency room", or for "Get Out of My ER", the latter story popularized by the 1978 novel The House of God by Samuel Shem. John Algeo (1991) notes that various people claim the word is an acronym or is borrowed from Hebrew G-M-R (“finish; complete”), but suggests that these accounts are dubious. He concludes that a connection to Gomer Pyle or to the "stupid, awkward person" sense of the word is the most likely source. The Oxford English Dictionary online (2003) likewise treats the "undesirable patient" and "stupid person" senses as uses of the same word.

Alternative forms

• GOMER
• gomere (female equivalent)

Noun

gomer (plural gomers)

2. (medical slang, derogatory) An undesirable hospital patient, or a patient who does not need medical care.

   That patient is a total GOMER. Turf him and let's get some lunch.
3. (slang, derogatory) A dirty, senile, or otherwise unpleasant patient.
4. (slang, informal) A patient who does not respond to medical treatment.

References

• Samuel Shem (1978) The House of God, New York: Dell.
• John Algeo (1991) Fifty Years Among the New Words, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• “gomer, n³.”, in OED Online ?, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2003