Gammon

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɡæmən/

Definitions

1. A board game involving strategy and luck is one aspect, while another refers to a dish of cured pork, and lastly it can mean to trick or tease someone in a lighthearted way
2. A type of pork meat cured by dry-salting or smoking ; to mislead or joke with someone in a playful way ; a classic board game where players move pieces based on dice rolls aiming to remove them from the board
3. Pork that has been preserved and often cooked as a food item ; playfully tricking or duping another person ; a game involving dice and strategic movement of checkers on a special board

Etymology: The word covers three unrelated stories. The cured pork sense comes from Old French "gambon", meaning ham, which derives from "gambe", meaning leg, and ultimately from Late Latin "gamba". That Latin word goes back to Ancient Greek "kampē", meaning a bend, so the ham was named for a joint. English "jambon" and Spanish "jamón" are doublets from the same source. The verb meaning to tease or play a lighthearted trick has a different root. Old English "gamnian" meant to joke or play, from a Proto-Germanic base that also gave English "game". Middle English "gamenen" carried that sense into later English, and German "gamenen" kept the mocking meaning. The newest sense is a recent metaphor. In 2017, the phrase "Great Wall of Gammon" likened rosy, sunburnt complexions to cured ham, though a BBC use of "gammon face" from 2016 shows the image was already circulating.

Synonyms: hams, bacon