The word gag, in the idiom ‘gag a maggot’ means to choke or retch; to feel like you are going to throw up or vomit.
A maggot is a small legless larva, especially that of a fly, that looks like a tiny worm. They are found on decaying matter, including decaying flesh.
Meaning of Idiom ‘Gag a Maggot’
Something that would gag a maggot is disgusting or totally revolting.
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Usage Notes
Gag a maggot, which is not heard often today, is used to describe anything disgusting or revolting such as a bad odor or disagreeable sight. It can also be used generally to describe something considered very bad, immoral, highly illegal, etc.
It is also sometimes used as an exclamation, usually before saying something rude. For example: “Gag a maggot! He is very ugly.”
Examples Of Use
“The plan to redistrict, classic gerrymandering, that the legislature is considering is so anti-democracy it’s enough to gag a maggot.”
“Oh, this house is filthy! And the odor could gag a maggot!”
“He’s got a face that could gag a maggot and a personality to match.”
“My dad used to claim that my mother’s cooking could gag a maggot. He would even argue his point while eating every last bite with zeal.”
Origin
This idiom has been used since at least the latter half of the 1940s. Before that, an earlier version was ‘gag a maggot off a meat wagon.’
I found a citation as early as 1946, from Billboard magazine:
The number of burlesque houses has dropped perceptibly from the old Columbia Wheel days, but the number has changed little from the first years after the burlesque dropped its mantel of respectability and adopted the policy which eventually led to virtual elimination of the man-and-wife trade in faver of catering to the morons with a balderdash of sewage, verbal and physical, that would very often gag a maggot.
More Idioms Starting with G
- Get Out of My Hair
- Go Over the Same Old Ground
- Get With It
- Get With the Program
- Going to (Will) Murder (Kill) Someone
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