What's the difference between gaff and gaffer?

Gaff


Definition:

  • (n.) A barbed spear or a hook with a handle, used by fishermen in securing heavy fish.
  • (n.) The spar upon which the upper edge of a fore-and-aft sail is extended.
  • (n.) Same as Gaffle, 1.
  • (v. t.) To strike with a gaff or barbed spear; to secure by means of a gaff; as, to gaff a salmon.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Dedicate it to the off-the-cuff remark – the gaffe, even – which averts a war.
  • (2) Every time he opened his mouth he created another gaffe," he said.
  • (3) This is, admittedly, a difficult area for David Cameron, who, when questioned by David Letterman on US TV in 2012, was unable to say that Magna Carta simply meant great charter, but perhaps we should overlook this fairly amazing gaffe (for an Oxford-educated prime minister) and encourage him to inaugurate a national movement of political renewal with the charter as the context and inspiration.
  • (4) Mitt Romney's historic gaffe caught on video – published, with great timing, by the left-leaning Mother Jones magazine – in which he said that his campaign was writing off 47% of American voters since they "depended on government" handouts, was committed in an equally significant manner, as he delivered the remarks to a closed group of potential major donors in Florida.
  • (5) There is strikingly little support for the Republican contender whose gaffe-prone visit to Europe in July won him few friends and who regularly turns European welfarism and "entitlement societies" into points of mockery in his campaign speeches.
  • (6) Following controversy over the candidate's comments on the preparedness of London to host the Olympic Games, his aides will be anxious to avoid further gaffes.
  • (7) Democrats are planning to highlight what they see as the Republican party’s unpalatable views on immigration over the weekend, sending “trackers” to monitor the event in search of further gaffes from potential candidates.
  • (8) The comedy, in which she stars as gaffe-prone vice-president Selina Meyer, has been seen as a personal triumph for Louis-Dreyfus, as well as a stateside vindication for the comic method of its creator, Armando Iannucci .
  • (9) Roe worried about “all these gaffes” that Biden made as well as whether the 72-year-old had the necessary energy to serve in the Oval Office.
  • (10) Photograph: Barcroft Media Newsnight's new editor, former Guardian deputy editor Ian Katz, also has form with the comic sidestep after his Twitter "snoring, boring" gaffe about Rachel Reeves.
  • (11) Campaigning before the June election Demirtaş had been full of mischief, needling Erdoğan, making fun of the AKP’s gaffes.
  • (12) Gaffes are a feature of politicians and the electoral process, not a bug.
  • (13) In one high-profile gaffe, the expertise of one member of Macierewicz’s commission was revealed to have been based upon experience of constructing model aircraft, sitting in a fighter jet’s cockpit during an air show, and observing plane wings while looking out of a passenger window.
  • (14) Johnson is the master-builder of that image, deflecting every lie, every gaffe, dishonesty and U-turn with some self-deprecating metaphor: calling his feigned indecision “veering all over the place like a shopping trolley” was worth a world of worthy platitudes.
  • (15) You know, you had someone as despicable as Hitler who didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons.” Sean Spicer apologizes for 'even Hitler didn't use chemical weapons' gaffe Read more Spicer’s assertion during the Jewish holiday of Passover provoked instant outrage on social media and from some Holocaust memorial groups, who accused him of minimising Hitler’s crimes.
  • (16) This week the rapper said his gaffe at the MTV Video Music awards in 2009 was "bigger ... than the Bush moment".
  • (17) Clinton, while trotting out her plan on college affordability , has been robust in her attacks on Republican candidates of late – speaking out against gaffes on women’s reproductive rights from Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio.
  • (18) The editor's hope is that there will be "a story", perhaps a new policy initiative but, better still, a "gaffe".
  • (19) If it isn’t frontbench gaffes, it’s the perceived lack of commitment to the armed forces or armed police officers distracting from government blunders.
  • (20) Following a gaffe-strewn visit to Britain , where he queried the Olympic host's fitness to stage the Games, and after stirring controversy in Israel by calling Jerusalem the Israeli capital and seeming to back unilateral Israeli strikes against Iran , the Republican White House contender arrived on Monday in Poland, where he is to deliver a setpiece speech on democracy and freedom.

Gaffer


Definition:

  • (n.) An old fellow; an aged rustic.
  • (n.) A foreman or overseer of a gang of laborers.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) A breathless Sturridge was still trying to digest his part in the game when he paid tribute to Hodgson, saying: “I’m grateful to the gaffer for allowing me to score and it’s a beautiful feeling to represent your country in the rivalry against another great country.
  • (2) The gaffer’s not actually spoken to me and I’ll go in and say goodbye but I think it will be fine.
  • (3) I am grateful to the gaffer for the opportunity and God for allowing me to score.
  • (4) This one showed a girl bound with gaffer tape being forced to have sex with an adult.
  • (5) We look forward to it, the gaffer will look forward to it, he will have a game plan and will try to get into the next round.” It was Thistle’s first defeat in seven games but their defender Danny Seaborne said they had been undone by a striker enjoying a great run of form.
  • (6) The teams we’ve played against on the way to the final – Manchester United, which is always an important derby, Borussia Dortmund, because of the gaffer, and Villarreal, who are a very good side and fourth in La Liga – they are all worthy of playing in the Champions League.
  • (7) The manager and the chairman were a big influence; the gaffer made it clear last season that there was no way I was leaving and I didn’t want to.
  • (8) Under the gaffer we have controlled matches more than we've been controlled."
  • (9) Leicester let Premier League joy sink in before Champions League dreams begin Read more The striker said: “I think a good thing that helped us straight after that game was the gaffer had seen exactly how much we’d all fought for each other and put into that game, and because we weren’t in the week after because we’d been knocked out of the FA Cup he gave us a week off to completely forget about everything and recharge the batteries.
  • (10) The players deserve it, the gaffer and the staff deserve it and the fans deserve it.
  • (11) I am more comfortable playing up front but I will always do a job for the team, wherever the gaffer wants me to play.” Hurling remains a passion and although some of his Southampton colleagues have paid an interest, none is willing to pick up a stick and have a puck around.
  • (12) When his vehicle was recovered later, there was a roll of gaffer tape on his dashboard.
  • (13) I’ve had enough of all this,” which prompted the midfielder to round on his manager, replying: “You as well gaffer.
  • (14) The season is only midway through and the gaffer Ed Miliband and his chief tactician Cruddas are getting on pretty well.
  • (15) Gaffers seemed in short supply and none had, apparently, been allowed to use their own initiative in allowing who to release from the pen of police in which the protesters were corralled.
  • (16) "José's the man and it was hard for Davide playing in front of his old gaffer," he said.
  • (17) But me and the gaffer, we don’t make the decisions – there are people above us who make the decisions and they never approached me.” The manager himself had expressed public fear over the ability of Celtic to land transfer targets who would be suitable to ensure Champions League qualification once again.
  • (18) Anyway, do staff really vote on the basis of the views held by the gaffer?
  • (19) To experience this atmosphere and togetherness is an amazing feeling.” Asked whether he should be in the first XI against Slovakia on Monday, he said: “That’s the gaffer’s decision.
  • (20) The lighting assistants watch her while pretending to do something with gaffer tape; the catering team take their time gathering the coffee pots; the work experience girls simply try not to gawp.