{"id":23041,"date":"2023-08-23T13:35:49","date_gmt":"2023-08-23T13:35:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/?p=23041"},"modified":"2023-08-23T15:53:23","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T15:53:23","slug":"gadding-about","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/?p=23041","title":{"rendered":"Gadding About"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In this post we explore the various meanings and origins of the word <strong>gad<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/amtokyo\/4888401999\/in\/photolist-8rYkB6-2qqD-2qqA-K4R5WR-52g2ZQ-Mt88W-MtfR2-6Fg1Zz-gV7Ri3-2mBdSuE-oDaHak-2nBqXXM-7cnij8-2mB54Tr-hKfVLg-2hQ4yDQ-irro5t-24f4xeg-6R6jnn-2cZFgMz-6R6jAg-2owRgb6-Ymebjz-2gFLJq2-h4Umi-85Rwed-9phMU-hHwNPd-AmCST1-598ETt-81wJwj-beuDxD-6CAAiv-aH5MdB-pXZnUY-bqT7cx-jPGXCc-26g5w13-bUe76H-inajwy-92P9Q2-bqSNpe-aH4rrg-27xbSFq-28uHEDz-c4v4U9-92P4GF-92dw18-5z8aPT-Vmg9Fz\" title=\"Gadfly\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/4123\/4888401999_02ee8853d4_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Gadfly\"\/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>As an exclamation, <strong>gad!<\/strong> is a euphemistic alteration of the word <strong>God<\/strong>, and is the roughly equivalent of <strong>by God!<\/strong>, <strong>goodness gracious!<\/strong> and similar exclamations. It also appears in such exclamations as  <strong>egad!<\/strong>,  <strong>egads!<\/strong>, <strong>gadzooks!<\/strong>, <strong>gadsbobs!<\/strong>, <strong>gadsbudlikins!<\/strong> and <strong>gadsnouns!<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>As a verb, <strong>to gad<\/strong> means:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>to move from one location to another in an apparently random and frivolous manner<\/li>\n<li>(<em>of cattle<\/em>) to run with the tail in the air, bent over the back, usually in an attempt to escape the warble fly<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This comes from Middle English <em>gadden<\/em> (to go quickly, hurry, rush about), possibly from <em>gadde<\/em>. Related words include <strong>gadabout<\/strong> (a person who restlessly moves from place to place, seeking amusement or the companionship of others) and <strong>gaddish<\/strong> (inclined to gad, or move from place to place frivolously).<\/p>\n<p>As a noun,  <strong>gad<\/strong> means one who roams about idly, or a <strong>gadabout<\/strong>. This version comes from Middle English <em>gade<\/em> (a fool, simpleton),  from Old English <em>g\u0101da<\/em> (comrade, companion), from Proto-West Germanic <em>*gad\u014d<\/em>, from Proto-Germanic <em>*gad\u00f4\/*gagad\u00f4<\/em> (companion, associate), from Proto-Indo-European <em>*g\u02b0ed\u02b0-<\/em> (to join, unite).<\/p>\n<p>The obsolete English word <strong>gadling<\/strong> (a companion in arms, fellow, comrade, a roving vagabond) comes from the same roots, as does the Dutch word <strong>gade<\/strong> (spouse), and the German word <strong>Gatte<\/strong> (spouse).<\/p>\n<p>In Northern England and Scotland, <strong>gad<\/strong> is apparently used to mean a greedy and\/or stupid person.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, <strong>gad<\/strong> can mean:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>a goad, a sharp-pointed rod for driving cattle, horses, etc, or one with a whip or thong on the end for the same purpose<\/li>\n<li>a rod or stick, such as a fishing rod or a measuring rod<\/li>\n<li>a pointed metal tool for breaking or chiselling rock<\/li>\n<li>a spike on a gauntlet.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This comes from Middle English <em>gad(de)<\/em>, from Old Norse <em>gaddr<\/em> (goad, spike), from Proto-Germanic <em>*gazdaz<\/em> (spike, rod, stake).<\/p>\n<p>Words from the same roots include <strong>yard<\/strong> (a unit of length equal to 3 feet, a spar on a sail) in English, and <strong>gadd<\/strong> (stinger, sting, tooth) in Swedish.<\/p>\n<p>Also from the same root in the English word <strong>gadfly<\/strong>, which refers to certain types of flies that irritate animals by buzzing around them and biting them to suck their blood, and by extension, a person of thing that irritates or instigates, or a person who takes without giving back. It is also a synonym of <strong>gadabout<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Sources: <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/gad#English\">https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/gad#English<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/gadfly#English\">https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/gadfly#English<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/quod.lib.umich.edu\/m\/middle-english-dictionary\/dictionary\">https:\/\/quod.lib.umich.edu\/m\/middle-english-dictionary\/dictionary<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.etymonline.com\/search?q=gad\">https:\/\/www.etymonline.com\/search?q=gad<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this post we explore the various meanings and origins of the word gad. As an exclamation, gad! is a euphemistic alteration of the word God, and is the roughly equivalent of by God!, goodness gracious! and similar exclamations. It also appears in such exclamations as egad!, egads!, gadzooks!, gadsbobs!, gadsbudlikins! and gadsnouns!. As a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[102,104,107,116,10,26,36,44,45,202,67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dutch","category-english","category-etymology","category-german","category-language","category-middle-english","category-old-norse","category-proto-germanic","category-proto-indo-european","category-proto-west-germanic","category-swedish"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23041"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23045,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23041\/revisions\/23045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}