Date:  Wed, 14 Jun 1995 17:44:47 -0600

From:  Katherine Catmull <kate[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]BGA.COM>

Subject: Re: Teen Slang Terms (Gank and Gaffle)



>    The second word is entirely new to me. It is "to gaffle"

>   (spelling?) meaning simply to steal something from someone without

>   violence or their awareness. As in, she didn't know it, but I gaffled

>   a stick of gum from her purse.

>    My sources are only oral. The informants had no clue as to

>   etymology but they said both terms were old. But then, old to

>   teenagers can mean last week.





I wonder if "gaffle" bears any relation to "gaff," meaning a trick or a

swindle. "Don't blow the gaff" is a phrase that might be used by theater

people as well as con artists, the gaff being the key part of a trick or

illusion that you want to keep hidden from your audience.



Just a thought



Kate Catmull          kate[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]bga.com