Oh my word Gaff, Gaffe

With an eyeful of skyline in front of him, holding the gaff in his left hand and dipping his feet into the icy waters of the river he recounted his gaffes in a lighter mood. The stepson said he remembered the fishing gaff hook hanging from his backside after his stepfather threw it at him.

Mom, give me the gaff, the son shouted as he was heading for fishing. Go, and get it. I had enough of your gaffes, said the mother. Gaff is a noun. Gaff is a tool. Anglers and fishermen carry a gaff to pull a large fish out of the water to the shore. Gaff is an iron hook attached to a pole, a hook attacked to a handle and used to land large fish to the shore or to the boat, in ships gaff is a spar attached to the mast and used to extend the upper edge of a sail, a climbing hook used by telephone and electric line workers.

As a verb, gaff refers to a hook to land a fish; informally it refers to defraud or swindle; to hook with a gaff (he gaffed at it). Gaffe is a social blunder; an unintentional act or remark that causes embarrassment; a blunder. It is an indiscreet remark; an indiscreet deed. Gaffe is a faux pas. The excursion had in his eyes been a monstrous gaffe, a breach of sensibility and good taste.

He wore sports shoes for a formal dinner but realised that it was a gaffe when he noticed others wearing formal shoes. I was not aware that my professor was a woman, so when I called her "Sir" I had to apologise for my gaffe. In 2014, a television anchor was sacked for her gaffe as she referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping as “Eleven Jinping”. She was confused with Xi's name with the Roman numerals XI.

Most of the politicians embarrass their party with their gaffes.Journalists have an eye and an ear for political and celebrity’s gaffes.

Kovuuri G Reddy