Is gaf/gaff/gaffe slang for "party"?

April 21, 2004 3:41 PM

I checked every slang dictionary I could find to no avail. Does anyone else use "gaf", "gaff", or "gaffe" as slang for "party" or "get-together"?
posted by Kwantsar to Grab Bag (8 answers total)

As far as I know, "gaff" is slang for a flat/house/other residence, as in "let's go round Bob's gaff and watch the telly". A "gaffe" is when someone says or does something they shouldn't have.

I've never seen any spelling of it used for a party or get-together or heard it used that way either, but I'd guess it's related to the usage as a word for a place to live somehow.
posted by reklaw at 3:47 PM on April 21, 2004

gaff - slang for house or place. e.g. "I'll meet you round my gaff in 10 minutes" and "He was all over the gaff" (all over the place). Originates from the 19th century when a 'gaff' was a slang term for a fairground or place of cheap entertainment.
posted by seanyboy at 3:50 PM on April 21, 2004

Other meanings here.
It could be a local (i.e. just you) shortening of "Gathering" as well.
posted by seanyboy at 3:57 PM on April 21, 2004

Is a negative result is useful information for you? I've never heard nor used the word "gaff" to mean "party."

I have, however, used the word "gaffle" to mean something like "aggressively procure."
posted by majick at 4:25 PM on April 21, 2004

It could be Indonesian.
posted by seanyboy at 4:39 PM on April 21, 2004

I've used 'gaffle' in the Cypress Hill sense meaning I was all farked up in the street.

So when you see me at the party or the baile
Before I got here I was gaffled en the calle
posted by haqspan at 4:42 PM on April 21, 2004

The OED has citations back to 1932 for gaff meaning "A house, shop, or other building" and to 1812 meaning any public place of amusement; hence a low class of theatre or music-hall.
posted by Mo Nickels at 7:17 PM on April 21, 2004

I can't believe you went to all that work with slang dictionaries and you didn't even bother to check dictionary.com. It's usually pretty good for some decent usage notes and it only takes about 30 seconds to use. Now, their note doesn't list it as being actual party, per se, but it supports the responses above in suggesting that it is a place of entertainment, often a disreputable one, or a place where someone resides.

Is it possible you just misunderstood the way the word was being used when someone said he/she was going to a "gaff"?
posted by The God Complex at 7:55 PM on April 21, 2004