gash

I. adj

British

1.

spare, available. This now almost obsolete use of the word was common in the armed services in the 1950s and probably has the same origins as the following senses.

2.

attractive, impressive. The origin of this sub-sense of gash is obscure, but may be inspired by the attractiveness of 'spare' or available women. It was heard among working-class Londoners until the late 1960s.

3.

useless, worn out, broken. In this sense gash is still heard, especially in London, among workmen, technicians, musicians, etc. and in the armed forces.

► 'There's nothing in there but a pile of gash tapes.' (Recorded, video technician, London, 1988)

The various meanings of the term probably all derive from a 19th-century adoption of the French word gacher (to waste or spoil) or gachis (mess) for rubbish on board ship. The meaning was ironically extended to cover extra portions, then anything spare. The original French is preserved in the third sense above.

II. n

a.

a woman or girl. A male term of sexual origin but not necessarily used with sexual connotations. The term existed in the argot of the streets in the 1950s, both in the USA and in working-class Britain (where it usually occurred in the phrase 'a bit of gash'). It was revived in the 1980s by aficionados of rap music and hip hop as a fashionable synonym for girlfriend. The origin of the word lies in b, which is unknown to many users.

b.

a woman's genitals, or women as sex objects. The fearful or dismissive male image of a woman's external sex organs as a wound is an ancient one. Gash in this sense was a widespread vulgar euphemism in the 19th century.