phrases, sayings, idioms and expressions at

Gal

Posted by Smokey Stover on July 11, 2009 at 03:53

In Reply to: Gal posted by David FG on July 09, 2009 at 16:59:

: : Is "GAL" a corruption of GIRL?.

: It is indeed. As is 'gel', which is a rather more up-market (and dated) English version.

: DFG

I'm not sure I like to characterize the word as a "corruption" of girl, although it is certainly a mispronunciation. It has become an alternate word for girl which plays up the colloquial and sometimes jocose aspects which have become attached to the word. American feminists hate the word because they hate all slang words denoting women or girls. I think they believe that slang or humorous words denoting females are invariably the product of men trying to put women down.

The first example cited in the Oxford English Dictionary is a decription of the word as a vulgarism.

"1795 B. DEARBORN Columbian Gram. 135 Improprieties, commonly called Vulgarisms, [include]..Gal for girl."

Among the various examples that follow, none uses "gal" in any sense that could be called demeaning or opprobrious. At the present, gal is still used, but marks the user as an old-fashioned fuddy-duddy, The word is passé fer sher.
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