Gammed

/ɡæmd/ verb

Definition

Past tense of 'gam'; engaged in social interaction between whaling ships, or visited socially.

Etymology

From gam (possibly from Dutch 'gam' meaning 'leg' or from 'gammon'), a whaling term meaning a friendly meeting between two ships at sea.

Kelly Says

Whaling sailors created their own social network on the open ocean—when two ships 'gammed' they shared news, supplies, and letters in the middle of nowhere, long before email and texting existed.

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