• Rolando@lemmy.world
    31·
    2 months ago

    The etymology of “galoot” is interesting.

    • some places just say “of obscure origin” and cite first use as “circa 1818” e.g. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/galoot
    • however, “This word is used in both the US and Scotland, and its origin is uncertain, although it most likely began as nautical slang for “green” or new sailors, especially if they were marines or soldiers.” https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/galoot#0
    • OED is behind a paywall, but we can glean "Early 19th century (originally in nautical use meaning ‘an inexperienced marine’): Of unknown origin.” and "OED’s earliest evidence for galoot is from 1808, in the writing of ‘A Naval Officer’. " https://www.oed.com/dictionary/galoot_n?tab=etymology
    • more specifically, ““Dictionary of American Slang” proposes galut, Sierra Leone creole form of Spanish galeoto “galley slave.”” https://www.etymonline.com/word/galoot
    • a dissenting opinion is from wiktionary, which suggests “From Quranic Arabic جالُوت (jālūt, pronounced galūt in Egyptian Arabic), proper name equivalent to English Goliath, giant warrior of the ancient Philistine ethnicity; cf. connotations of derogatory uses of English Philistine. Doublet of goliath.” https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/galoot

    E-Tru is kind of a galoot himself, come to think of it.

    • bluewing
      5·
      2 months ago

      I kind of lean towards the Arabic root. In US English, every time I have heard the word or the few times I’ve used it myself, it gets modified by the word “big”. Like the phrase “Get out of the way you big galoot!” And it’s aimed at someone who is bigger than most others and often portrayed as someone not very bright and also a bit clumsy - the “dumb muscle” in the movie. And Mr. True is definitely a big galoot.

      I enjoy 1920/1930s detective and western films. And it’s a word and phrase you can hear a lot. But by the 1940s it seems to fade away from common usage.