DCHP-3

gob

DCHP-2 (May 2016)
1n.

spittle.

Type: 2. Preservation — Gob, likely preserved from British English, is synonymous with 'spittle'. EDD (s.v. "gob" (3)) defines the term as 'a quantity of spittle or expectoration'. Canada's extensive 19th-century settlement from Britain has resulted in a number of such lexical preservations.
See also COD-2, s.v. "gob (2)" (2a), which is marked "Cdn & Brit.".
The term is much older in Canadian English than the quotations suggest, yet as an originally non-genteel, vulgar term it is rather rare in writing. Gob can refer to any soft substance (see DARE n1.1.a), which is a meaning that is very prevalent in the US. In phrases such as "spitting gobs of banana" it is unclear which meaning, saliva or soft banana substance, prevails.

Quotations

2005
He stalks you still. But this time the ammunition is spit, not stone. His gob falls short, onto a soldier's boot.
2011
"Perfectly fine summer folderol, epic enough on its own terms if not quite big enough to expand beyond its genre and matter to people who find it difficult to care about characters who spit gobs of flaming phlegm. I realize there are fewer and fewer of us, but we're a hardy band and stubborn."
2v.

to spit.

Type: 2. Preservation — As with meaning 1, gob in its verbal form is preserved from British English, where it is defined as 'to spit, expectorate' (EDD, s.v. "gob" (8)).
See also COD-2, s.v. "gob2" (v), which is marked "Cdn & Brit.".

Quotations

1988
That's not all. He whipped around the mikestand (at one point, almost decapitating bassist Brian Gibbs), he was gobbing back at the bozos in the audience who were spitting at him, and he was doing dives face first onto the stage.
1990
The ritual spitting on the audience was not met with the accepting response the [Sex Pistols] were accustomed to. Here, it is greeted with a chorus of muffled four-letter words that made it clear this crowd felt getting gobbed on was not hip.
2004
Apparently, some men's mouths are so full of spit that they must gob it all over the sidewalks.
2011
A shrine made of lace pillows and copies of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry might be more picturesque, but would hardly honour the irreverence of a woman who once stopped an interview to say, "Oh - I've gobbed on myself."

References

  • EDD
  • COD-2
  • DARE