Gregory, noun
- Origin:
- See quotation 1976.
obs. except in historical contexts
A tall story; a mis-statement; a blunder.
1946 S. Cloete Afr. Portraits 109Gregory, an expert, considered the diamond to be a geological accident, since there was no diamondiferous ground in Africa. His mistake caused blunders to be known as ‘Gregories’.
1983 D.E. Schaefer in Optima Vol.31 No.2, 77‘Mr Gregory..returned to his employers with the assertion that Cape diamonds were a myth, a delusion and a snare!’..The Star of South Africa..thoroughly discredited Gregory. The witticism of the hour ran: ‘If you desired to tell a man that he had uttered a falsehood, (the euphemism) was that he had told a Gregory!’
A tall story; a mis-statement; a blunder.
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