Adj. (colloquial).—Good; frolicsome; festive. Cf., Shakspeare’s ‘Let’s have one other gaudy night.’—Ant. and Cleo., iii, 13. 1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 176. ‘Yes,’ answered the trainer, slowly, ‘he’s right enough; but a Leger’s a Leger, and I don’t think they are likely to give him a very gaudy chance.’ Neat but not gaudy, as the devil said when he painted his bottom pink, and tied up his tail with pea-green, phr. (common).—A locution used to ancient ladies dressed in flaming colours. Gauge. See Gage. To get the gauge of, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To divine an intention; to read a character; to size, (or reckon) up (q.v.). Hence, That’s about the gauge of it = That’s a fair description. Gauley. See by golly. Gawf, subs. (costers’).—A red-skinned apple. 1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab., i., 63. A cheap red-skinned fruit, known to costers as gawfs, is rubbed hard, to look bright and feel soft, and is mixed with apples of a superior description. Gawfs are sweet and sour at once, I was told, and fit for nothing but mixing. Gawk, subs. (colloquial).—A simpleton, especially an awkward one, whether male or female. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head. [Scots Gowk = a cuckoo; a fool; whence, to gowk = to, play the fool. As in the ‘Derision of Wanton Women’ (Bannatyne, MS., 1567), ‘To gar them ga in gucking’ = to make them play the fool.] 1837. H. Martineau, Soc. in America, i., 299. They proved such gawks that they were unable to learn. 1882. McCabe, New York, p. 217. I wasn’t half as awkward as some of the gawks about me. 1887. H. Frederic, Seth’s Brother’s Wife, ch. iv. Girls brought up to be awkward gawks, without a chance in life. Verb. (colloquial).—To loiter round; to play the goat. [The same verb is used by Jonson (Magnetic Lady, iii., 4, 1632) in the sense of amazed, or bamboozled, i.e., absolutely befooled: Nay, look how the man stands, as he were gowked!] 1888. F. R. Stockton, Rudder Grange, ch. xvi. That afternoon we gawked around, a-lookin’ at all the outside shows, for Jone said he’d have to be pretty careful of his money now. Gawkiness, subs. (colloquial).—Awkwardness; silliness; greenness (q.v.). 1873. Miss Broughton, Nancy, ch. xxxvii. The crude gawkiness of the raw girl he has drifted into marrying. Gawking, subs. (colloquial).—Loitering and staring; gathering hayseed (q.v.). Gawky, subs. (colloquial).—An awkward booby; a fool. ‘Now squire gawky’ = a challenge to a clumsy lout. For synonyms, see Buffle and Cabbage-head. 1686–1758. Ramsay, Poems, ii., 299. Or, gentle born ye be; but youths in love you’re but a gawky. 1777. Sheridan, School for Scandal, Act ii., Sc. 2. Crab. Yes, and she is a curious being to pretend to be censorious—an awkward gawky, without any one good point under heaven. 1825. Neal, Bro. Jonathan, ii., ch. 18. Great, long, slab-sided gawkys from the country.