Gooseberry. A corruption of Gorseberry, rough or coarse, on account of the hairs or diminutive prickles which distinguish this berry.
Gordon Hotels. Established by the late Frederick Gordon, a solicitor of Bloomsbury. These middle-class hotels have supplied a long-felt want in London and elsewhere.
Gordon Square. In compliment to Lady Georgina Gordon, wife of the sixth Duke of Bedford, the ground landlord.
Gospel. From the Anglo-Saxon God-spell, “good news.”
Gospel Oak. From the oak-tree marking the juncture of St Pancras and Hampstead parishes, beneath which the Gospel was annually read.
Goswell Road. From an ancient spring, styled “God’s Well,” discovered in this neighbourhood.
Gotham. The city of New York. Washington Irving first gave it this name in his “Salmagundi.” Its people in his time were anything but fools, yet he may not have appreciated the singular wisdom attributed to them. By referring to the city as Gotham he made a playful allusion to Gotham in Nottinghamshire, England, which for centuries had merited a reputation for being a town whose inhabitants did and said the most foolish things.
Go the whole Hog. An expression derived from Cowper’s poem entitled “Of the Love of the World reproved,” in which he discusses the eating of pork by the Turks:
“But for one piece they thought it hard
From the whole hog to be debarred.”