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Flibber-de-Gibbet

Posted by ESC on June 22, 2006

In Reply to: Flibber-de-Gibbet posted by Pappy Atoms on June 21, 2006

: AKA Flibber me Gibbet, Flibbertigibbet, and Flibber the Gibbet.
: Flibber-de-gibbet is from Middle English flipergebet, apparently a nonsensical word meant to represent meaningless chatter, from 1549, where it describes a "chattering gossip, flighty woman."
: There is some suggestion that the term may also relate to a flibbering jib, where flibber means to flap randomly in the wind, and the jib (originally "gibb," dating back to the 13th century)is the foremost sail of a ship. The loose, flapping jib would then make the flapping sound much like meaningless chatter as defined in the 1549 definition.

Merriam-Webster says flighty person.

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