guff

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• enPR: gŭf, IPA^(key): /ɡʌf/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌf

guff (countable and uncountable, plural guffs)

1. (informal, uncountable) Nonsensical talk or thinking.
   • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad‎:

     “… That woman is stark mad, Lord Stranleigh. […] If she had her way, she’d ruin the company inside a year with her hare-brained schemes ; love of the people, and that sort of guff.”

2. (informal, uncountable) Superfluous information.
3. (informal, uncountable) Insolent or otherwise unacceptable remarks.
4. (slang, countable) A fart; act of breaking wind.

• (nonsensical talk or thinking): balls, bull, bulldust, bullshit, crap, nonsense, rubbish, tripe
• (insolent or otherwise unacceptable remarks): brass neck, cheek, impudence, insolence, lip

guff (third-person singular simple present guffs, present participle guffing, simple past and past participle guffed)

1. (slang) To fart.
2. (slang) To mislead.
   • 1955 October, Rex Stout, “The Next Witness”, in Three Witnesses, Bantam, published 1994, →ISBN, page 14:

     "Let me see if I get you. You can't bear to help convict Ashe of murder because you doubt if he's guilty, so you're scooting. Right?"
     […] "That's close enough," Wolfe said.
     "Not close enough for me. If you expect me to […] invite a stiff fine for running out on a subpoena […] , don't try to guff me. Say we doubt if Ashe is guilty, but we think he may get tagged because we know Mandelbaum wouldn't go to trial without a good case. Say also our bank account needs a shot in the arm, which is true. So we decide to see if we can […] "

• (break wind): See also Thesaurus:flatulate
• (mislead): To bullshit