# Did you know that the word gullible was not in the dictionary? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 6, 2001, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-the-word-gullible-was-not-in-the-dictionary/67765 "2001-06-06T04:00:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-the-word-gullible-was-not-in-the-dictionary/67765/1 "2001-06-06T04:00:34Z")
Ten years ago I had a co-worker who was the epitome of the stereotypical blonde … except she was a brunette. We pulled the ‘gullible’ prank on her; she actually looked it up just to prove us wrong 😃 Anyhow … She got bit by a yap-dog and went to MilMed to get it checked out. It wasn’t a bad wound by any means, but they put her on pre-natal vitamins on the theory that the vitamins would reduce the scarring. A few days later she pulled me aside and asked, in all seriousness: “These vitamins … they won’t make me pregnant, will they?” ---
**Author:** ![thinksnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thinksnow/32/2849_2.png) [@thinksnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thinksnow)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-the-word-gullible-was-not-in-the-dictionary/67765/2 "2001-06-06T04:05:40Z")
Gotta love idiots like that, they keep your self confidence and ego up, dontcha know! ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-the-word-gullible-was-not-in-the-dictionary/67765/3 "2001-06-06T04:20:49Z")
You’re NOT going to believe this, but I SWEAR it’s true… I was explaning this to **Astrogirl** , who did not know the word, I grabbed a Korean/English ditionary to look up “gullible” to show here… AND IT ISN’T IN THERE! True! ---
**Author:** ![Scotticher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Scotticher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scotticher)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-the-word-gullible-was-not-in-the-dictionary/67765/4 "2001-06-06T04:25:38Z")
**Astro** sweetie… Try looking it up in a _dictionary!_ [sub]sorry, SORRY! I just couldn’t resist![/sub] Bad Scotti, BAD! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-the-word-gullible-was-not-in-the-dictionary/67765/5 "2001-06-06T04:31:17Z")
I don’t get it. Does it mean like a gull? What does it mean to be like a gull? and what kind of gull? Seagull? Baygull? … And what’s hair got to do with it? Never saw hairy gulls… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-the-word-gullible-was-not-in-the-dictionary/67765/6 "2001-06-06T04:58:32Z")
**sailor** wrote: > [@](#): > > I don’t get it. Does it mean like a gull? What does it mean to be like a gull? and what kind of gull? Seagull? Baygull? … And what’s hair got to do with it? Never saw hairy gulls… It was originally `gulcible’, but newspapers started using the altered spelling because Harry S. Truman couldn’t pronounce it correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Ell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@Ell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ell)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-the-word-gullible-was-not-in-the-dictionary/67765/7 "2001-06-06T05:33:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Johnny Angel \* > \*\ ***sailor** wrote: > > > [@](#): > > > > I don’t get it. Does it mean like a gull? What does it mean to be like a gull? and what kind of gull? Seagull? Baygull? … And what’s hair got to do with it? Never saw hairy gulls… > > It was originally `gulcible’, but newspapers started using the altered spelling because Harry S. Truman couldn’t pronounce it correctly. \*\* It was actually Eisenhower ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-the-word-gullible-was-not-in-the-dictionary/67765/8 "2001-06-06T07:04:23Z")
**Ell** wrote: > [@](#): > > It was actually Eisenhower Cecil did a [column](http://www.urachump.com) on this. ---
**Author:** ![AndYrAStar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8edcca/32.png) [@AndYrAStar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndYrAStar)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-the-word-gullible-was-not-in-the-dictionary/67765/9 "2001-06-06T07:09:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Cecil did a [column](http://www.urachump.com) on this I can’t believe I clicked that. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-the-word-gullible-was-not-in-the-dictionary/67765/10 "2001-06-06T07:18:56Z")
My local taxi company does a similar thing with new drivers – kind of an initiation ceremony. They radio the guy to go up to the north side of Trafalgar Square and pick up a passenger with one arm and an eye patch. The drivers usually spend a few minutes furtively avoiding the parking wardens before the office asks if they’re near the statue of Lord Nelson. They don’t always click. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-the-word-gullible-was-not-in-the-dictionary/67765/11 "2001-06-06T11:18:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by chique \* > \*\*… A few days later she pulled me aside and asked, in all seriousness: “These vitamins … they won’t make me pregnant, will they?” \*\* This brought to mind a ditz who worked with one of my sisters. She (the ditz, not my sis) was all excited when she heard about “test-tube babies” because she would be able to have a baby without losing her figure!! She was crushed when my sister explained it to her… I sure hope she never did reproduce… ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-the-word-gullible-was-not-in-the-dictionary/67765/12 "2001-06-06T12:12:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > \*\*I don’t get it. Does it mean like a gull? What does it mean to be like a gull? and what kind of gull? Seagull? Baygull? … And what’s hair got to do with it? Never saw hairy gulls… \*\* Not that you’re expecting a serious answer, but I think it just means “able to be gulled (fooled)”. Heh. I’d get the absolutely correct definition, but I’m resisting the urge to look the sucker up… ---
**Author:** ![Knighted\_Vorpal\_Sword](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ac91a4/32.png) [@Knighted\_Vorpal\_Sword](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knighted_Vorpal_Sword)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-the-word-gullible-was-not-in-the-dictionary/67765/13 "2001-06-06T13:05:58Z")
Back in the old days when PC’s had 5.25" floppy disks, I actually convinced a co-worker that she always had to hold the disk flat, because if she held it sideways the bits would slide off. I never did tell her the truth, and she always carried her disks flat. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-the-word-gullible-was-not-in-the-dictionary/67765/14 "2001-06-06T13:11:26Z")
Heck, our english teacher pull that on the entire class! My friend Kim and I were the only ones laughing while everyone else hit the dictionaries. 😃 I did do that to poor Melissa. She was the avatar of the stereotypical airheaded blonde. She was more spaced out that Star Trek. She fell for the gag so hard, she didn’t even get the joke when we had to explain it to her. I felt sorry for her. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TheNerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@TheNerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheNerd)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-the-word-gullible-was-not-in-the-dictionary/67765/15 "2001-06-06T14:17:47Z")
I’m afraid I don’t quite get the joke either. I mean, to be gullible is to readily believe something, right? So why is it that when your target questions your assertion that the word doesn’t appear, and decides to check it on their own, that they’ve been gullible? Would it somehow be better if they just said, “No, I didn’t know that, but now I do. Thanks!” ? ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-the-word-gullible-was-not-in-the-dictionary/67765/16 "2001-06-06T14:22:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheNerd \* > \*\*I’m afraid I don’t quite get the joke either. I mean, to be gullible is to readily believe something, right? So why is it that when your target questions your assertion that the word doesn’t appear, and decides to check it on their own, that they’ve been gullible? > Would it somehow be better if they just said, “No, I didn’t know that, but now I do. Thanks!” ? \*\* To be gullible is to naively believe something. If someone goes to look up “gullible” after being told that it’s not in the dictionary, then they’re gullible for believing it would be possible for the word not to be in there. It would be one thing if I said a word that was either fabricated on the spot or at least contested through time (such as “ain’t”!), but a recognizable word? To put it another way, if I told you that “nerd” wasn’t in the dictionary, you’d probably (and rightly) dispute it (!). But the naive person would just go look it up, even though they really should know that it’s an actual word. And the fact that its meaning is derived from naivete kind of is icing on the humor cake. 🙂