Date:  Fri, 12 Dec 1997 19:00:12 -0500
From:  Gregory {Greg} Downing <downingg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]IS2.NYU.EDU>
Subject: Re: gleeking

At 05:31 PM 12/12/97 +0000, you (M_Lynne_Murphy[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]baylor.edu) wrote:
>i've been asked by students here about the origins of a term--[glik]
>(gleek? gleak? gleke? gliek?) that's used by kids to refer to some way
>of projecting water or saliva around the teeth and tongue. i don't know
>this word and can't find it in my slang dicts. does anyone have a clue?
>

I've no idea, from a contemp. US perspective (have never heard it actually
used). But in OED the verb "gleek" (with variant spellings such as some of
those you list just above) means to trick or circumvent, to joke or jibe, or
to look askew. As a noun (OED gleek n.2) it means a jest or a flirting
glance. Possibly quite unrelated to any contemporary US "gleek," but there
it is for what it is or ain't worth, faute de mieux (pas encore, anyway).

Greg Downing/NYU, at greg.downing[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]nyu.edu or downingg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]is2.nyu.edu