Really TRUE odd factoids

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Tenkaykev

Guru
Location
Poole
And it is a much more modern word than you think as it was only added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 1967

That can't be right, I remember reading Gullible's Travels at School back in the early 60's...
 

Seevio

Guru
Location
South Glos
No, @DaveReading saying "I see what you did there"......so what did he do ?

He was making reference to a reoccurring joke from The 11 O'Clock Show in the 90s. The idea being that if you believed that the word was only added to the dictionary in 1967 then you are the actual definition of gullible. In reality, the word stems from the US radio show, The Chase and Sanborn Hour. In the late 1930s they used the slang "gull" meaning to fool someone. Hence someone who could be easily fooled was "gull-able". This meaning crossed the Atlantic with the American GIs stationed in Britain during the war where it caught on. By the time the word was formally adopted in the UK, the spelling had changed although the original -able spelling remains in use in many parts of the USA.
 

Dave7

Legendary Member
Location
Cheshire
He was making reference to a reoccurring joke from The 11 O'Clock Show in the 90s. The idea being that if you believed that the word was only added to the dictionary in 1967 then you are the actual definition of gullible. In reality, the word stems from the US radio show, The Chase and Sanborn Hour. In the late 1930s they used the slang "gull" meaning to fool someone. Hence someone who could be easily fooled was "gull-able". This meaning crossed the Atlantic with the American GIs stationed in Britain during the war where it caught on. By the time the word was formally adopted in the UK, the spelling had changed although the original -able spelling remains in use in many parts of the USA.

Every day's a schoolday.
Thanks
 

Dave7

Legendary Member
Location
Cheshire
Now you're being gulled ... :laugh:

TBH I had already googled it and found its a 16th century word meaning tricked.
But dont tell @Seevio.
 
Location
Widnes
When viewed upside down the word GULLIBLE looks like a cat.

When I was a teacher in a Girl's School I came down the stairs from my room one lunchtime
and there were a group of pupils there waiting for me

They said "Sir we've been checking and do you know the word gullible is not in the dictionary
and held out the dictionary for me

I just stood there and looked at them

They said I was the first teacher that had not fallen for it!!
 
Last edited:
He was making reference to a reoccurring joke from The 11 O'Clock Show in the 90s. The idea being that if you believed that the word was only added to the dictionary in 1967 then you are the actual definition of gullible. In reality, the word stems from the US radio show, The Chase and Sanborn Hour. In the late 1930s they used the slang "gull" meaning to fool someone. Hence someone who could be easily fooled was "gull-able". This meaning crossed the Atlantic with the American GIs stationed in Britain during the war where it caught on. By the time the word was formally adopted in the UK, the spelling had changed although the original -able spelling remains in use in many parts of the USA.

There is a similar joke in a Douglas Adams book. Clearly a rich vein!
 
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