Re: Gaffa

[Craig Heath <craig@sco.COM>]

> Date: Fri, 24 Feb 1995 13:47:19 -0800 (PST)
> From: Bruce Gordon <bruceg@u.washington.edu>

> 	Thanks C&V for all of the preliminary meanings of the word Gaffa 
> (except you didn't mention the former mispelling of the Israeli city, 
> Jaffa :^) ).  

Actually, the association it has for me (and, astonishingly, at least one
other person who replied when I first suggested this several years ago)
is with that other Middle-Eastern location, Gaza; specifically with
Aldous Huxley's book "Eyeless in Gaza", but that's just me.

I can't let Chris's somewhat far-fetched linguistic assertions go by
without comment, however; I'm quite prepared to entertain the notion
that the word "gaffe" may have been in Kate's mind, whether conscious
or unconscious, but it seems quite preposterous to discount Kate's own
statement that the superficial meaning is gaffer tape.

You can't go and say (in effect) "Kate's lying because she doesn't
agree with me," certainly not without some sort of supporting logic.
I know this is an old, old argument.  The crux of it in the past seems
to have been "well I've never heard anyone call it gaffer tape".
I fail to see what can be done about such narrow-mindedness, except
to say that when I went in to a music shop in Leamington Spa quite
a few years ago, and asked for a roll of "duct tape", the muso behind
the counter replied "oh, you mean gaffer tape?".  QED, as far as I'm
concerned.

		- Craig @ SCO near London.