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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
I'm re-reading "Treasure Island". The when the mysterious ex-pirate who was a guest at the Admiral Benbow Inn, died after recieving the "black spot", Jim Hawkins' mother in searching the pirate's chest to get the money he owed her,
found a "gully".
I never heard of a knife by that name, but it is in my dictionary, the second definition:
gully 1
n.,
pl. 3lies 5altered < ME golet, water channel, orig., GULLET6 a channel or hollow worn by running water; small, narrow ravine
vt.
3lied, 3ly[ing to make a gully or gullies in
gully 2
n.,
pl. 3lies 5< ?6 [Brit.] a large knife
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
This is a creepy word for a knife, really. Especially if you consider a murderer gullying a victim with a gully (knife).
And even curiouser--as English is--that a gull is such a lovely bird and hasn't much at all to do with either knife or a gully unless one factors in water. I don't suppose there is a linguistic connection between the seagull and the ravine gully, is there?
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
and to gull someone is to fool them or con them out of something. The birds aren't that tricky they just grab and go.
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
And if they are liable to be gulled then they are gullible.
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