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Gilly-gaupus


Gilly-gaupus

(GILL-ee-GAW-pus),

noun:

-An awkward, foolish, or silly person.

-A Scotch term for a tall awkward fellow.

(The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, originally by Francis Grose.)

From Scottish Gaelic "gille" & Irish "giolla" - youth + Middle English “gawp” to yawn, gape, to stare at someone or something in a rude or stupid way from obsolete "galp".

Used in a sentence:

“Gerald will never entice Ms. Penistone into courtship so long as he remains such a cack-handed gilly-gaupus.

From The Grandiloquent Mercantile:

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