If you've ever wondered when the credits rolled: GAFFER: in the 16th century it meant "elderly rustic," apparently a contraction of godfather; originally "old man," it was applied from 1841 to foremen and supervisors, and this sense carried over in the twentieth century to the specific meaning of "electrician in charge of lighting on a film set."
I discovered this while looking for the origin of GAFFE, which Romney has been making a few of lately. The origins are unclear, so nothing coherent to report, but it appears to be originally a slang term that entered English from French in the 20th century.
No comments:
Post a Comment