I had heard the word “gaffer” used in the context of film (lighting technician) before I read Tolkien and saw it used in the context of people (well, hobbits, but let’s not quibble). He speaks of hobbit “gaffers and gammers,” which I took from context to mean “old men and old women.” However, on two shows that I watch that are about soccer in the UK (one fiction, one non-fiction), both refer to their coach as “the gaffer.” I’m assuming that’s an extension of the concept that gaffer = old man, but I admit I could be wrong.
From what I understand, it’s just an informal term for the boss in the UK. So a soccer team manager being called the Gaffer makes sense in that context.
This site and this site indicate that “gammer” is indeed a female equivalent of “gaffer” (evidently an elision of “godfather”), but this site says the use of “gammer” in the same popularized fashion as “gaffer” is basically unknown.
In its film technician meaning, we call “gaffer tape” what you call “duct tape”.
“Gammer” is long dead. The only usage I know of it is the very early (16th century) play Gammer Gurton’s Needle. A comedy/farce whose hilarity you can guess from the fame of its title.
To expand on the excellent answers above, “gaffer” is your nearest boss, the guy in charge of the relatively small team you work in - a foreman or supervisor (or football manager). The gaffer would usually be an older man of the same social class as you who used to do your job and while he won’t let you take the piss, will also look out for you and the team when management push too hard.
“There I was, a-digging this hole
A hole in the ground, so big and sort of round it was
There was I, digging it deep
It was flat at at the bottom and the sides were steep
When along, comes this bloke in a bowler which he lifted and scratched his head
Well we looked down the hole, poor demented soul and he said Do you mind if I make a suggestion? Don’t dig there, dig it elsewhere
Your digging it round and it ought to be square
The shape of it’s wrong, it’s much too long
And you can’t put hole where a hole don’t belong”
Fred Moffat is a survivor – just. Bearded, wearing a battered hat and a crumpled suit, his Rover P6 a rusting wreck, he runs a struggling engineering firm and is constantly trying to avoid his creditors, the tax man, the bank manager, and indeed anyone who might want him to pay for something.
I think maybe it’s about proximity. In a small firm, the owner is going to be very hands on, will know all the workers by name, will be the guy who visibly has the biggest impact on the workers’ day to day (e.g. rotas, setting standards etc).In a big firm with multiple layers of management, the owner will be a distant figure and the guy you speak to about compassionate leave, what to do when the supplier doesn’t turn up, whether the hole should be round or square etc. will be technically a supervisor or foreman but still be a gaffer.
Well, sort of. Gaffer tape is a wide roll like duct tape, and as strong, but it’s also insulative and flexible like electrical tape. And of course, also more expensive than either.
The main thing about gaffer tape v. duct tape for me is that gaffer releases much easier from surfaces than duct tape (for me, this is important, as I prefer gaffer tape for most my uses.)
I assume the tape is named after the industry term “gaffer” for the chief electrician on a movie set. They tend to use a lot of tape to keep cords down and the such.
