Gasconade. To boast. The people of Gascony had an unenviable reputation for boasting.
Gate. This old English word does not in all cases express a city gate, as in London, but a road, street, or passage--e.g. Canongate, the way past the House of the Canons of Holyrood Abbey at Edinburgh; Lowgate, Whitefriargate, etc., at Hull; Harrowgate, the passage through the hills; and Boulogne Gate, or entrance to Boulogne Harbour.
Gatling Gun. Named after R. J. Gatling, its inventor.
Gaul. The Gallia of the Romans, from the Celtic name of the country, Gal, “western.”
Gave him a Baker’s Dozen. As much as he merited, and one blow over as a finishing stroke. A drubbing that he little expected.
Gave him a Roland for an Oliver. Exactly what he gave me himself; a tit for tat. Roland and Oliver were two knights in the train of Charlemagne. Both were equally accomplished; what the one did the other essayed also with success. In the matter of fighting too they were exactly on a par, since, after having been put to the test in single combat, for a long time neither of them gained the least advantage.
Gave him the Cold Shoulder. Received him with scant ceremony. The allusion is to the fare generally set before an unexpected visitor who has not dined.
Gave him the Grand Shake. An Americanism for finally breaking off an acquaintance.
Gavelkind. A custom among the Anglo-Saxons whereby all the sons of a family inherited alike. Lord Coke traces it from the Teutonic gif eal cyn, and translates it literally “give all kinde.” Inheritance by Gavelkind obtained in Kent long after the Norman Conquest; indeed, it is said that some Kentish lands are still held by this ancient tenure.
Gavotte. A dance familiar to the Gavots in the French province of Dauphiny.