hip hop ma man
gobo
orig. U.S.
[Origin unknown.]
(See quots.)
1930 Sel. Gloss. Motion Pict. Techn. (Acad. Motion Pict., Hollywood) 15/2 Gobo, portable wall covered with sound-absorbing material. 1936 Words Oct. 6/2 A ‘gobo’ is a small black screen used to deflect light. 1970 T.V. Times (Austral.) 1 Apr. 8/3 A gobo is anything that goes between, e.g., the light and the set.
OED2
This interested me, because in modern stage lighting parlance this is a completely unambiguous word that is not any of the above (at least exactly). It is a small screen that clips between the lamp and the lens to produce a shaping effect on the ‘beamage’ [sic]. For example, a delicately etched sheet of thin metal would produce the illusion of light falling through a cell’s bars, or sunlight dappling through tree leaves, or a cross of light on a scenery flat…
