# British use of the word "gaffer" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Tags:** middle-earth\ **Created:** [June 4, 2024, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-use-of-the-word-gaffer/1002472 "2024-06-04T11:56:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2024, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-use-of-the-word-gaffer/1002472/61 "2024-06-13T18:46:58Z")
And then there are the Irish. On an Irish police procedural one of the characters kept referring to his mother as “mammy”. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2024, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-use-of-the-word-gaffer/1002472/62 "2024-06-13T19:01:07Z")
That’s nothing. I was watching this American drama where the lead kept on calling his mother “Mom”. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2024, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-use-of-the-word-gaffer/1002472/63 "2024-06-13T19:06:34Z")
No joy. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2024, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-use-of-the-word-gaffer/1002472/64 "2024-06-14T06:29:24Z")
If Ma’am’s good enough for the Queen, it’s good enough for Vera, pet. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-use-of-the-word-gaffer/1002472/65 "2024-06-18T12:50:26Z")
The OP may be thinking of ‘giffer’ for ‘old man’, rather than ‘gaffer’ (which I’ve only heard used for ‘boss’ as discussed above). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-use-of-the-word-gaffer/1002472/66 "2024-06-18T13:32:07Z")
He’s quoting Tolkien as his example, and Tolkien definitely uses the spelling with an A. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-use-of-the-word-gaffer/1002472/67 "2024-06-18T13:41:02Z")
I’ve never heard “giffer”. It must be relatively recent. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-use-of-the-word-gaffer/1002472/68 "2024-06-18T17:31:26Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > I’ve never heard “giffer”. You beg to … disagree? ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-use-of-the-word-gaffer/1002472/69 "2024-06-18T17:39:45Z")
Oh, always, on principle. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-use-of-the-word-gaffer/1002472/70 "2024-06-18T20:46:18Z")
I never heard it either but Urban Dictionary has this explanation: # [giffer](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=giffer) description of a cap wearing [old person](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=old%20person) ([victor meldrew](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=victor%20meldrew))a cross between git and [duffer](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=duffer). [sod off](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=sod%20off) you [old](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=old) giffer by [stuaey](https://www.urbandictionary.com/author.php?author=stuaey) September 3, 2004 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-use-of-the-word-gaffer/1002472/71 "2024-08-22T17:02:02Z")
In Britain, the gaffer was/is the guy who adjusts the stage lights, using a long pole with a hook on the end called a gaff. I thought the guy who lit the gas street lamps was also called a gaffer, and used a gaff, but no luck finding that. ---
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2024, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-use-of-the-word-gaffer/1002472/72 "2024-08-23T00:55:22Z")
Could it be a corruption of governor/guv’nah? ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2024, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-use-of-the-word-gaffer/1002472/73 "2024-08-23T06:23:09Z")
I would guess more likely of “grandfather” (cf. the now-defunct “gammer” for “grandmother” as in _[Gammer Gurton’s Needle](http://elizabethandrama.org/the-playwrights/plays-of-historical-importance/gammer-gurtons-needle-mr-s/)_). ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2024, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-use-of-the-word-gaffer/1002472/74 "2024-08-23T07:12:54Z")
A gaff as any long pole is probably a different derivation. In nautical terminology, it _ **is** _ a long pole. A gaff rigged sailboat has an upper spar - called a gaff - from which the lower sail is hung (traditionally _bent_) and above which - in the triangular space between the gaff and the top mast, a triangular sail - the top-sail - may be flown. Otherwise, on board, a gaff is also a useful long pole, usually with a hook on one end used to catch and manipulate things outside the boat. Things like picking up a mooring line or the anchor line under any buoy. You would be foolish not to have one aboard. This also brings about the verb _gaff_ - to catch. A gaff rigged sailboat may often be called a _gaffer_. Although generally not as a formal designation of type. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2024, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-use-of-the-word-gaffer/1002472/75 "2024-08-23T09:10:54Z")
The etymological origin of “gaffer” as a corrupted elision of “godfather” has been established and was cited in posts 3 and 4 of this thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-use-of-the-word-gaffer/1002472.md?page=3)