ok all you Brits out there… Or Americans who have nothing better to do than learn the slang of another country. How do you pronounce “git”? I understand that it means idiot or jackass, but is that a hard g?
Soft g, as in goat.
Yes, as in gear.
as in gumbo!
Which surely makes it a hard G rather than a soft G as in Genie which has a J sound?
well I suppose you could consider it soft relative to the German hard g, which sounds like a cat coughing up a hairball.
Um…I was offering a definition as well?
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As long as Seaworthy Gets(hard) the Gist(soft) of the pronounciation!
Agreed with all. The actual etymology is “ille(git)imate”, and I’ve heard it pronounced “jit” in Glasgow. But generally, the hard g is used.
That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that etymology. You got a cite, ray?
Are you sure you weren’t hearing a version of “eejit” (an Irish version of Idiot)?
Main Entry: git
Pronunciation: 'git
Function: noun
Etymology: variant of get, term of abuse, from 2get
Date: 1943
British : a foolish or worthless person
Tengu. I can’t find one, apart from anecdotal. I stand corrected and, having looked it up, agree with Quint Essence about “get” being the origin. See the World Wide Words entry, for instance. Nevertheless,
the “t” should be pronounced quite emphatically at the end too.