Need help with British slang...

[NickM]

In my readings I came across an expression used by an RAF pilot in Malta during the Blitz that I was not familiar with---HOPEFULLY it's not a obscene expression; anyhow...here goes:

The pilot was referring to the German aircraft bombarding Malta as 'JU88s, JU87s & other gash kites;

So...what does the term Gash means in these circumstances?

thanks, ahead of time


NickM

[Jon]

Hi Nick

I need to be very carefull here !
Gash in modern British language, in some parts of the Uk such as the west country stands for that one certain part of the female body we are all glad they have.
So putting that into the circumstance you have mentioned it will work but, sounds wrong for the period to me, though i would imagine the average fighter pilot was more than capable of many a good swear word?

Hope this helps a bit

Jon

[Chris Goss]

Gash nowadays means spare. In the RN, it means refuse. In this case I would guess it would mean unidentified

[Andy Fletcher]

Hi Nick

As Chris says gash means spare or waste and is quite common parlance in the RAF/British aviation industry. In the context you mention it could mean that the Luftwaffe were using everything they could get their hands on to bomb Malta.

Regards

Andy Fletcher

[NickM]

Thanks to all who replied; and Jon: that word means the same thing here RE: a woman's private parts so I was VERY nervous asking the question;

NickM

[Jon]

Thanks Nick.
I was begining to feel like a naughty school boy..!

[bulldog]

I know this might be a bit late, but I remember working with an ex WWII vet some thirty years ago and he used the term very liberally rather than the more common terminology. Apparently he picked up this word during the war, don't know where or when.
Regards Bob.

[George Hopp]

It was a pretty common word in the RCAF in the 50s and 60s and simply meant, as Chris and others have said, spare material or extra material or garbagy material. A lady's anatomy was never considered as one of the meanings at that time.

[Tony Williams]

I remember this one from my own childhood. I've always understood that it could be used to mean 'spare, surplus to requirements' but also in a derogatory sense as 'rubbish', which is more likely to be the meaning in this context.

Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and discussion forum