Читать книгу Bees Knees and Barmy Armies - Origins of the Words and Phrases we Use Every Day - Harry Oliver - Страница 27

When about to take a close look at something we might say we’re going to ‘have a gander’, a phrase that has been with us since the early twentieth century. A gander is, of course, a male goose – but just what does a goose have to do with it? Well, back in the seventeenth century ‘to gander’ meant to ‘stretch your neck to see’, as the male goose would. Now, if you were to have a gander at a gander as it waddles about, peering at everything and sticking its beak into other people’s business, you’d see why we still associate the bird’s name with an inquisitive look. The only difference is that we stopped using the verb ‘to gander’ long ago – instead we have, or take, a gander.