Re: Can anyone define "Gaffa"

[chrisw@fciad2.bsd.uchicago.edu (Chris Williams)]

>I'm a new user so forgive me if Gaffa has already been defined, however, 
>I've searched for this definition for years without success.  I've always 
>considered myself "Suspended in Gaffa", but only because I don't know 
>what that means.  J. Dray

   Hey, it's been more than a year, so here goes! *MY* definition of
gaffa is...

   ...a plurl form of the French word "gaffe," (an error or blunder)
that Kate invented. One gaffe, many gaffa. Thus to be "suspended in
gaffa" is to be mired in a morass of one's own mistakes, a subject
that Kate has mentioned repeatedly in interviews. She's a notorious
perfectionist, and often has described being held back by "little
things that I would like to change about myself...very personal
things." 

   The song also features some Catholic imagery (big C, most of her songs 
are fairly little c "catholic"), Purgatory ("...I cought a glimpse of a
God, all shining and bright...")

    The word gaffa *is* a real word in Italian. It's a feminine form
of the French word "gaffe."

    A browse through the giant, 20 volume Oxford English Dictonary
produced the word "gaff," a wonderfully flexible old word.

    These usages are still current:

    The "gaff" is the main throughfair of a carnival, with games of
"chance" on either side.

    To "blow the gaff" is to let the secret out. This usage was seen
in the film _The Crying Game_, spoken amusingly enough, by Miranda
Richardson.

    The "gaff" is the hook used in fishing, and is also the hook
used in vaudville to drag failing performers off the stage...

    ...I'm fairly sure that Kate was aware of more than a few of
these meanings. 

    Until next year, I remain, your humble servant...

                          Chris Williams of
                             Chris'n'Vickie of Chicago
                               chrisw@fciad2.bsd.uchicago.edu (his)
                                 vickie@njin.rutgers.edu      (hers)