gorblimey
(gɔːˈblaɪmɪ)
Also gaw-, -blime, -blimy.
[Cf. blimey int.]
Vulgar corruption of the imprecation God blind me! See also quots. 1919, 1925.
| 1896 A. Morrison Child of Jago i. 16 Gawblimy, not what? 1909 J. R. Ware Passing Eng., Gorblimy (about 1875). A gutter phrase. 1911 L. Stone Jonah i. ix. 105 ‘Gorblimey! A knock-out!’..Stinky, with a haphazard blow, had given Chook the dreaded knock-out. 1914 T. A. Baggs Back from Front xix. 92 Gor blimey, 'ow are ye, then, old townie? 1915 A. D. Gillespie Let. 27 Mar. (1916) 74 Most of the infantry now wear the soft ‘Gor'bli'me’ hat which looks horrid, but does not give such a mark as the flat-topped ‘Brodrick’. 1918 W. J. Locke Rough Road v. 51 ‘Gorblime!’ said Chipmunk, ‘that's the first I 'eard of it.’ 1919 War Terms in Athenæum 8 Aug. 729/1 ‘Gor-blimey’, a soft service cap. 1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words, Gorblimey... An exclamation or adjective of emphasis. A ‘Gorblimey’ was the common colloquial term for an unwired, floppy, field-service cap worn by a certain type of subaltern in defiance of the Dress Regulations. Lines from a song, popular before the War, ran:—‘He wears Gorblimey trousers An a little Gorblimey 'at.’ 1956 J. Masters Bugles & Tiger 49 A tweed gorblimey cap worn well forward on the head. 1958 Oxf. Mag. 27 Feb. 326/1 The British and American tendency is to emphasise the Gorblimey aspect of history, the feelings of the ordinary man on the spot at the time. 1962 Listener 31 May 967/1 She offered a gorblimey cheerfulness. |