gobby slang.
(ˈgɒbɪ)
[Said to be f. dial. and vulgar gob expectoration + -y6.]
(See quot. 1929.)
| 1890 in Farmer & Henley Slang III. 168/1 When a meeting takes place the men indulge in a protracted yarn and a draw of the pipe. The session involves a considerable amount of expectoration all round, whereby our friends come to be known as gobbies. 1904 Kipling Traffics & Discov. 126 Think o' her Number One chasin' the mobilised gobbies round the lower deck flats. 1929 F. C. Bowen Sea Slang 58 Gobby, in the British Navy, a coastguard, or in the old days a quarterdeckman. In the American, any bluejacket. |