Word: gobs
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Dates: during 1920-1929
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Sirs: In reference to the controversy in TIME, [Dec. 13, Nov. 22], regarding the appellation "gobs" please be advised that both Admiral Irwin and the party who thinks the Admiral is wrong are correct to some extent. But the real truth of the matter is that one sailor may call another a "gob," but since the return of the Fleet from the wonderful cruise to Australia he is more liable to use the Australian word and pronunciation and call his shipmate "Silor" with the "i" pronounced "eye." This entire matter should hardly merit all this discussion...
...Gob Flayed...
...TIME, Oct. 25, the word "Gob" is used as referring to enlisted men in the Navy...
Samuel G. Blythe, famed Saturday Evening Post writer, once wrote: "A gob is a sailor, a man of the American navy, a bluejacket, and the term is self-applied." TIME preferring the authority of Admiral-Subscriber Irwin, will relegate the word to the category of objectionable slang...
...manufacturers argued that it was no worse to sell chewing gum on shipboard than to sell chewing tobacco, which has always been sold. They argued that a piece of chicle, delicately flavored and injected into the mouth of a gob (except when in ranks) not only was harmless, but promoted efficiency and "good morals." It was Senator McKinley, lame duck from Illinois, who finally prevailed upon the higher officers of the Navy to believe these arguments. At least one of Senator McKinley's constituents (William Wrigley Jr. of Chicago) grinned broadly. He has always been in favor of good morals...