# Which came first: gaudy, or Gaudi? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 26, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-gaudy-or-gaudi/261672 "2004-08-26T20:39:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![foolcourtpress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/91b2a8/32.png) [@foolcourtpress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolcourtpress)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-gaudy-or-gaudi/261672/1 "2004-08-26T20:39:40Z")
If not a burning question, a sparkly one: Does anyone know if the adjective “gaudy” (adj: Too highly ornamented to be in good taste; syns: tacky, chintzy, tawdry) was derived from the wickedly bespangled works of Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi? Personally, I’m a big Gaudi fan, and don’t find his work gaudy at all. But you’ve got to admit, his work does bear a certain relation to the definition above. [It’s true: these things keep me up at night.] ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-gaudy-or-gaudi/261672/2 "2004-08-26T20:43:37Z")
From: [http://www.takeourword.com/Issue055.html](http://www.takeourword.com/Issue055.html) The erroneous explanation is that the term comes from the name of the Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi (1852-1926), whose architecture some believe today is gaudy. This suggestion can be discounted by virtue of the fact that gaudy dates back to the 16th century. ---
**Author:** ![foolcourtpress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/91b2a8/32.png) [@foolcourtpress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolcourtpress)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-gaudy-or-gaudi/261672/3 "2004-08-26T20:47:41Z")
Rufus, you rock. I’m glad to (a) have the answer, and (b) learn that I’m not the only cake-head wondering about the connection. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-gaudy-or-gaudi/261672/4 "2004-08-26T21:26:45Z")
Besides which, the architect’s name is pronounced “gowdy.” ---
**Author:** ![jsolpar688](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a698b9/32.png) [@jsolpar688](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsolpar688)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-gaudy-or-gaudi/261672/5 "2017-05-22T23:44:29Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Besides which, the architect’s name is pronounced “gowdy.” Not really. The correct pronunciation is: [gaudi’]. I’m from Lleida (Catalonia). Catalan is my mother tongue. So I really know it. ---
**Author:** ![jsolpar688](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a698b9/32.png) [@jsolpar688](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsolpar688)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-gaudy-or-gaudi/261672/6 "2017-05-22T23:52:23Z")
It is not that “Gaudy” comes from the Catalan surname “Gaudí” but both words come from the same Latin word “Gaudēre” that means “to joy” or “to enjoy”, "to rejoice” or “be merry”… “Gaudy” most likely comes from the ancient English word “gaud” that comes from the French “Gaudir” which, like the Latin word where it comes from, (“Gaudēre”), means “to joy” or “to enjoy”, "to rejoice” or “be merry” We can also find the word “Gaudir” in the Catalan language having the same mentioned meaning and the same Latin origin as its French equivalent. Derived from the Catalan verb “Gaudir” we find the Middle Age noun word “Gaudí”. A “Gaudí” was anyone who, even thou he was not a cavalier, militiaman, honourable citizen, or titled noble, could enjoy [“gaudir”] (that means; to have) the privileges of the military class due to his job or status [See “gaudí” entry in the official Catalan language dictionary at [http://www.diccionari.cat/lexicx.jsp?GECART=0069107](http://www.diccionari.cat/lexicx.jsp?GECART=0069107) ]. In the Middle Age people started to be differentiated one from the others by their job (like “Smith” or “Herrero” in Spanish), origin (like “Oxford” or “Toledo”), condition (like “Bald” or “Calvo” in Spanish ), or status (like “Cavalier” or the one that occupies us; “Gaudí”), etc. That was the origins of the surnames and the origin of our famous catalan architect Antoni Gaudí’s surname. So here you have been explained how there’s really a connetction between “Gaudy” and “Gaudí” but an indirect way. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-gaudy-or-gaudi/261672/7 "2017-05-23T01:29:03Z")
> [@jsolpar688](#): > > It is not that “Gaudy” comes from the Catalan surname “Gaudí” but both words come from the same Latin word “Gaudēre” that means “to joy” or “to enjoy”, "to rejoice” or “be merry”… > > “Gaudy” most likely comes from the ancient English word “gaud” that comes from the French “Gaudir” which, like the Latin word where it comes from, (“Gaudēre”), means “to joy” or “to enjoy”, "to rejoice” or “be merry” \ > [@](#): > > So here you have been explained how there’s really a connetction between “Gaudy” and “Gaudí” but an indirect way. While I appreciate your additions to this thread, the Oxford English Dictionary would slightly disagree with you. The Latin word was indeed _gaudere_, which morphed into Anglo French _gaudir_. The OED then says about **gaud** “ **perhaps** an Anglo-Norman noun” from _gaudir\ **Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-gaudy-or-gaudi/261672/8 "2017-05-23T06:53:48Z") I’m looking hard, but can’t quite see the application of Gaudere’s Law here. Too tricky, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-gaudy-or-gaudi/261672/9 "2017-05-23T07:02:38Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > I’m looking hard, but can’t quite see the application of Gaudere’s Law here. Too tricky, I guess. How about the following? > [@jsolpar688](#): > > > [@lissener](#): > > > > Besides which, the architect’s name is pronounced “gowdy.” > > Not really. The correct pronunciation is: [gaudi’]. I think you mean [gaudˈi]—in IPA transcriptions, stress marks come before the syllable, not after. ---
**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:** [May 23, 2017, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-gaudy-or-gaudi/261672/10 "2017-05-23T07:57:38Z")
At a tangent, there is also the Oxford gaudy, or feast in its mediaeval colleges, as in Dorothy L. Sayers’s story Gaudy Night. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-gaudy-or-gaudi/261672/11 "2017-05-23T08:46:26Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > I think you mean [gaudˈi]—in IPA transcriptions, stress marks come before the syllable, not after. If it’s before the syllable then it’s [gauˈdi]. The two sillables are gau and di, not gaud and i. If it’s before the phoneme then it’s as you wrote it. Benvingut, **jsolpar688**. This thread is what we call “a zombie”, it’s several years old. Since you just joined us, you’re not familiar with the many and frequent discussions on pronunciation: when **lissener** transcribed Gaudí’s name as “gowdy” back in 2004, he may actually have been pronouncing it right. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-gaudy-or-gaudi/261672/12 "2017-05-24T06:48:37Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > If it’s before the syllable then it’s [gauˈdi]. The two sillables are gau and di, not gaud and i. If it’s before the phoneme then it’s as you wrote it. Very good! But you’re supposed to leave yet another error in your correction so that the next poster has something to correct. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-gaudy-or-gaudi/261672/13 "2017-05-24T07:10:26Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Very good! But you’re supposed to leave yet another error in your correction so that the next poster has something to correct. 😉 You could always which exact subvariant of each phoneme are we talking about… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-gaudy-or-gaudi/261672/14 "2017-05-24T11:41:00Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > At a tangent, there is also the Oxford gaudy, or feast in its mediaeval colleges, as in Dorothy L. Sayers’s story Gaudy Night. My recollection is that that use of gaudy goes back to a Latin phrase _gaudeamus igitur_ which means, “So let us rejoice” according to Wiki. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-gaudy-or-gaudi/261672/15 "2017-05-25T00:41:04Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > My recollection is that that use of gaudy goes back to a Latin phrase _gaudeamus igitur_ which means, “So let us rejoice” according to Wiki. Well, probably only indirectly, in that both come from the Latin verb _gaudere_, to rejoice or celebrate. “Gaudy” in the sense of a college feast probably comes from _gaudium_, a thing which is to be celebrated, and was originally applied to feasts held to commemorate a significant event or personage in the history of the college. And, for completeness, there’s also Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday in Advent, when Advent ascetic practices were traditionally relaxed for the day, and the priest wore (and indeed still wears) rose-coloured vestments, instead of purple. The name comes from the opening lines of the introductory verse prescribed for Mass on that day: _Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete._ (“Rejoice in the Lord always: I say again, rejoice.”)