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The Learning Kingdom's Cool Word of the Day for October 29, 1999
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gaffer [n. GAF-ur]
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To Americans, a gaffer is a lighting technician on a movie or TV
set. To someone from England, a gaffer is an old man, a rustic (a
simple country person), or a boss, foreman, or supervisor. The
American meaning emerged from the British meanings.
The word originally appeared in the late 1500s, when it was a
respectful title for an old man. It was a combined contraction of
grandfather and godfather that evolved together with gammer, a
similar word for an old woman that was derived from grandmother and
godmother.
When gaffer began to be applied to the oldest man in a work crew, it
shifted to the sense of the foreman or boss. Americans extended the
word to apply to any professional workers with seniority, and the
movie industry narrowed the focus to just those on the lighting crew,
while other American usages disappeared.
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