Origin: 1775–85; probably < Polari < Italian gamba leg; see jamb1
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Gamsis always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
"legs," 1781, probably the same word as gamb "leg of an animal on a coat of arms" (1727) and ultimately from M.E. gamb "leg," from O.N.Fr. (see gammon). Now, in Amer.Eng. slang, especially of pretty women, but this was not the original sense.
n. legs; a woman's legs. (From Ital. gamba = leg.) : Look at the gams on that dame.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition. Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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