"gober" informal for "supporter"

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on February 7, 2013 at 4:37pm

I reckon (from Google research) that it does mean what you say and the closest "translation"  might be "stomach" since  it seems to be a synonym for "avaler"  which itself means "swallow"

This is from "Le Figaro" En tout cas Hollande je ne le gobe pas. Son phrasé, ses mimiques, son air moqueur et suffisant. Il en fait des tonnes. La situation n'est vraiment.....

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Permalink Reply by Chantal Savignat on February 7, 2013 at 9:22pm

Hello

"gober" =  "supporter" ?   No

Sorry but I am not sure about "to be able to stand someone or something?"  

"gober" has many common meanings, but not "supporter".

1) "gober" = "avaler en 1 seul gros morceau" = to swallow in one time a big piece. Like eating oyster : on gobe une huitre

gober un oeuf : do you know that ? when I was young, we used to do that : we took an egg under the hen, still tepid, we did 2 little holes and we ate the egg, raw. hummm  it's "gober un oeuf"

It may mean "to swallow without savor" too.

2) derived from "avaler", the second meaning is "believe a lying" 

"gober une histoire" = believe a lying story

"gober quelqu'un" = believe that someone is better than he is really. to be duped by someone.

so the example about "Hollande je ne le gobe pas" means "Hollande, I don't believe him, I am not duped by his behavior"

And "se gober" is for someone who have a such behavior, who is self-satisfied.

It's negative, not a compliment.

3)  "gober les mouches" means "to lost time", "to dream"

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on February 7, 2013 at 11:00pm

"I can't stand someone or something"  is another ,stronger way of saying " I can't put up with or tolerate someone or something" ("supporter" in French).

 

A common English expression  is  "to teach your grandmother to suck eggs"

 

Maybe,then,  a more colloquial translation of "gober" in the Hollande example might be "to buy" .You would use it to ,as in that example to say that the overall demeanour and behaviour of someone was unconvincing and you would not accept  the outer appearance as genuine.

Or ,suppose it is commonly accepted that  female politicians are less likely to start a war  you might disagree and say "I don't buy that argument"- because there are lots of examples to the contrary that wouldn't come to mind at first. 

Is " se gober " a bit like "frimer"? (we also say ,with lots of variations, that someone is "up their own arse")

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Permalink Reply by Chantal Savignat on February 7, 2013 at 11:54pm

ok, now I understand "supporter" in this meaning. "it's nor really the meaning of "gober".

expressions with "gober" have the overtone "croire" = "believe". =>  "se gober" is "se vanter", "se donner de l'importance" with the idea that someone believe that. So yes "frimer" is good .

and I understand your exemples (Hollande, ...)  with "to buy", and yes, I think it's ok, "gober" =  "to buy"

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Permalink Reply by alan gould on February 8, 2013 at 6:15am

I saw the word in “mot du jour.”  what they have is the following:  

Il faut gober les huîtres - You're supposed to swallow oysters whole

Il a gobé les mensonges - He swallowed the lies hook, line, and sinker

Expressions: ne pas pouvoir gober qqun (inf) - to not be able to stand someone; rester à la gober les mouches - to stand there gawking; Il te ferait gober n'importe quoi (inf) - He'd have you believe anything

Related: un gobeur (fam) - sucker, idiot 

So, Chantal, you confirmed that it’s used to mean to swallow qch w/o chewing.  And Le Figaro quote confirms that it’s used to mean “to buy” (to accept) a lie w/o questioning it (Mot du Jour has it validly as the last expression).  “un gobeur” would make sense for someone who is easy to take advantage of.  Are you familiar with it, Chantal?       

And though in the expressions it has “to not be able to stand someone,” you, Chantal, are not familiar with this.  

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Permalink Reply by Chantal Savignat on February 8, 2013 at 8:10am

yes I am familiar with :

- "gober les huitres" and "gober un oeuf" to mean "to swallow" : it's frequently used and you can read it in a book, but only for these 2 foods instead of  "avaler"

but  for other foods it's very rare and only if someone swallows very quickly a big piece

- "gober les mouches"  : I am familiar but it's not used frequently, we have a lot of expressions for "to stand there doing nothing"

- "gober un mensonge" or "gober quelque chose" :  it's not rare and informal but not slang.

But "gober quelqu'un" is more rare and more slang.

and I am not familiar with the meaning "to not able to stand someone" but I think that it's not so ???? (éloigné=far ???)  because "se gober" is for someone who is insufferable, so it's difficult to be able to stand him.

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on February 8, 2013 at 11:35am

@Chantal :               but I think that it's not so ???? (éloigné=far ???) 

 

" Far off " would do nicely I think.

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