GOBSMACKED

adjective Also written gob-smacked (Youth Culture) In British slang: astounded, flabbergasted; speechless or incoherent with amazement; overawed. Etymology: Formed from gob (slang for the mouth) and smacked; the image is that of clapping a hand over the mouth, a stock theatrical gesture of surprise also widely used in cartoon strips. History and Usage: Although probably in spoken use for some time (especially in Northern dialects), gobsmacked did not start to appear in print until the middle of the eighties. Surprisingly it was the 'quality' newspapers which particularly took it up--perhaps to show their familiarity with the current idiom of young people--although it also appeared in the tabloids, along with a synonym gobstruck. A verb gobsmack was back-formed from the adjective in the late eighties. It's this act...with which she has been gobsmacking the punters in a recent cluster of Personal Appearances in gay clubs, straight clubs, and 'kids clubs'. Melody Maker 24 Oct. 1987, p. 18 In short, his work leaves me gobstruck--or would have done, had not a reader written to chide me for using what he calls 'this mean and ugly little word'. Godfrey Smith in Sunday Times 3 Sept. 1989, section B, p. 3 When told the price, between 10 and five times over estimate, he was 'gobsmacked'. Daily Telegraph 21 Sept. 1989, p. 3