Thursday, March 1, 2012

Why do French say..."tout de go" ?

When he has nothing to hide or lose, a person can achieve or say something "tout de go" ("straight out"), which means directly or frankly. Although the word "go" suggests an English origin, it is actually derived from the French verb "gobler" ("suck"). During the  mid-seventeenth century, one could "swallow a whole gob of" an oyster (literally) as well as good news (meaning figuratively), that is to say to eat or digest in a single swallow. Over time, the term has become synonymous with "no difficulty " and was reduced to its present spelling, simpler.


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