Gib (n)

“gib” n. is a newfoundland expression derived from thew nfld word for fish guts ‘gib’.
gib n phonetics unavailable. the gills and entrails of a herring: pip1 (p 245-75).
they caught a lot of herring in that time. they used to save the gibs, that’s the inside of the herring, for fertiliser to put on their fields for their hay.
gib n snd gip n2 2 ‘herring guts’ (1914-).
my mom from fogo island would say don’t ride your bike on the free way you’ll get in an accident “get all gibbled -up”.
or she would say “don’t make faces and fun because the wind might change and you end up a gib.”
which i always took to mean “cripple” or “r-t-rded”, or in todays venacular of 2004 , ‘the physically and mentally challenged’.
mom might even say if i was acting foolish “don’t be a gib!
nfld. owes much of its oral tradition to the irish as well.
i’d be interested in hearing a celtic interpretation .
gib v snd gip v ‘to gut…herring’ gilping 1788-; pratt gib v ‘to clean fish’ (1901-).
gib v also gip phonetics unavailable. cp oed ~ v2 ‘to disembowel (fish’) (1883, 1893); gip (1603-); fisheries of us (1887), p. 433; dinneen giobaim ‘i pr-ck, peck, pluck, pull, tear.’ to remove the gills and entrails of a herring; split v.
1862 lind ms diary 18 june very small attendance at singing this evening as nearly all are gipping or packing herrings. 1863 hind ii, 233 after a ‘deck’ of mackerel is obtained, all hands prepare to put them in salt. the operations of ‘p-ssing up,’ ‘splitting,’ and ‘gibbing,’ are gone through, and they are packed in salt in the barrels. p 148-61 gibbing: taking the gill out of the herring. t 185-65 first i was workin’ in matthews’ factory, gibbin herring and packin’ herring.