gammon

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)A cut of quick-cured pork leg.

   “[T]he cooks were laying a refection before him of sack and anchovies and garlic sausage and gammons of bacon and - this was the important item - a great pudding dish out of which rose the noble dome of a crisp brown pie-crust.”

   “I bake a piece of gammon that will be served both hot and, later, as cold cuts.”

2. (countable, dialectal, uncountable)A joke, trick; play, sport, merriment.
3. (countable, uncountable)A victory in backgammon achieved when the opponent has not borne off a single stone.

   “Toward the end of the game Roger had not borne off a single stone belonging to Roseanna, and she scored a gammon. She could not hide the triumph in her eyes. “Perhaps you will play a better game if we play for something closer to your heart,” she suggested.”

4. (countable, rare, uncountable)Backgammon (the game itself).

   “We started about 7:00 drinking beers and playing gammon. Then after getting a little “loose” we went to a girls dorm.”

5. A rope fastening a bowsprit to the stem of a ship (usually called a gammoning).
6. (dated, uncountable)Chatter, ridiculous nonsense.

   “Some people maintains^([sic]) that an Englishman's house is his castle. That's gammon.”

   ““Gammon, Pen—go on,” Foker said.”

   “He swore that all other religions were gammon, / And wore out his knees in the worship of Mammon.”

7. (UK, countable, derogatory, neologism, uncountable)A middle-aged or older right-wing, reactionary white man, or such men collectively.

   “Yeah, let the bitch drown / Got the gammons all feeling sick now / Great Britannia's lost all hope, she's broke”

   “I was expecting the Guardian to portray me as an old gammon and pair me up with some radical with coloured hair. Then she walked through the door with blue hair, which was rather amusing!”

verb

1. To cure bacon by salting.
2. (dialectal)To joke, kid around, play.
3. To beat by a gammon (without the opponent bearing off a stone).
4. To lash with ropes (on a ship).

   ““No, by thunder !” he cried, “it's us must break the treaty when the time comes; and till then I'll gammon that doctor, if I have to ile his boots with brandy.””

5. (colloquial, dated, transitive)To deceive; to lie plausibly to.

   “And no use for anyone to tell Charles that this was because the Family was in mourning for Mr Granville Darracott […]: Charles might only have been second footman at Darracott Place for a couple of months when that disaster occurred, but no one could gammon him into thinking that my lord cared a spangle for his heir.”

   “This blackfulla's driving a car. Copper stops 'im, says, “Did you know you were speeding?” Blackfulla says, “No.” His Missus goes, “Oh yeah you did, eh.” Cop says, “Did you know your tail lights aren't working? Guy says, "No". His missus says, "You did an' all, Dont you gammon to them coppers." Guy goes to his Missus, "Shut up!" Copper asks the Missus, "Does he always talk to you like that?" She goes, "Only when he's drunk!"”

adj

1. (Papua-New-Guinea)Fake, pretend; bullshit.

   “I was just being gammon.”

   “She ripped the fake coins off […] and tried a black lacy veil, which covered Kerry's forehead, mouth and chin, rendering her mysterious. ‘I look like a Muslim,’ Kerry said doubtfully. […] It was better than the gammon coins though, so she left it.”

name

1. (Ireland)the Shelta or Cant language of the Irish Travelling Community.