Also: Gift of the gab
Meaning of Idiom The Gift of Gab
The gift of gab is the ability to speak in a very fluent, confident and eloquent manner, especially when this ability allows one to easily persuade others to do what one wants. 1Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.,2Ayto, John. Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms. Oxford: Oxford U, 2010.,3McCarthy, Michael. Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms. Cambridge University Press, 2002
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Examples of Use
“He wasn’t really qualified as an administrator, but his gift of gab allowed him to rise to the top of the company.”
“The candidate never had a good command of the facts, but he had the gift of gab. Voters easily fell for his charm.”
Origin
Gab was used during the late 1700’s as a word for conversation or ‘chatter.’ The Scottish term gab was associated with gob, meaning ‘the mouth.’ Having the gift of the gab meant having a gift for fluent conversation. 4Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.,5Ayto, John. Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms. Oxford: Oxford U, 2010.
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Sources
| ↲1, ↲4 | Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013. |
| ↲2, ↲5 | Ayto, John. Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms. Oxford: Oxford U, 2010. |
| ↲3 | McCarthy, Michael. Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms. Cambridge University Press, 2002 |
