gap out

v. to become distracted; to space out. Subjects: English

Etymological Note: Likely directly related to to gape ‘to stare at with the mouth open.’

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Citations: 1997 [John Och] Usenet: rec.aquaria.freshwater.goldfish (Sept. 11) “Re: GF: Gill Mites -Reply”: “Also can’t find much on gill mites in my books = what exactly are they?” “There is no such thing, that is why you can’t find it. I’m sure the store owner just gapped out for a second when telling about gill mites as well*probably meaning to say flukes.” 1997 Dave Perkins @ Halifax, N.S. Toronto Star (C8) (Nov. 9) “Skate results show perfection needed to win at Nagano”: Look at Kwan last night. She is as wonderful an athlete as it gets, but she had a so-so (for her) performance, gapping out and falling down in the final 10 seconds. 1998 [wendyland] Usenet: alt.folklore.ghost-stories (Nov. 12) “Re: Very Strange”: I’ve gone back and there is no way to get to that other road from the road that I was on. So, it wasn’t really that I just gapped out and was down the street past my exit. I was actually on another road parallel to the one I was on. I don’t know how to describe how strange it was. [1999 [Johnny Favorite] Usenet: alt.thanatos (June 8) “Re: Part 2—wanna look at the boat?”: I was drunk enough that time was “gapping out” on me: I’d come to and not remember what had happened for the last ten minutes or so.] 1999 [Mike DeBiasio] Usenet: alt.drugs.pot (Oct. 13) “Fucking Cops”: Steve (my friend) rolled up the joint while I was on look-out, and doing a rather half assed job because I was gapping out all the time. 2004 Murray Waldren, Douglas Coupland The Australian (Sydney) (Dec. 4) “Doug day afternoon”: As for his latest book, he mentions casually, “for better or worse I’ve done so little press on it so far that I don’t have any script prepared, so when I gap out, it’s a real gap out…” I hope this is merely a “random thread,” as he calls it when a thought-line peters out—and which, as the dusk slowly darkens into night, become more and more prevalent.

Posted 6 Dec 04 | Permalink | Tell a Friend