gottle o' geer

English

Alternative forms

  • gottle o'geer
  • gottle of geer
  • gottle of gear

Etymology

Pronunciation spelling of the phrase "bottle of beer" with the labial consonants replaced by velars; labials are the hardest English consonants to produce without visible lip movement.

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)

Phrase

gottle o' geer

  1. Stereotypical phrase spoken by the dummy of an incompetent ventriloquist
    • 1992, Spike Milligan, William McGonagall: Freefall‎[1], Michael Joseph, →ISBN, page 109:
      ‘And a gottle of gear,' said Watson, trying to disguise himself as a dummy.
    • 2001 January 13, Brian Boyd, “Not only here for the geer [Review of Dumbstruck - A Cultural History of Ventriloquism]”, in The Irish Times‎[2], page 15:
      Buyer beware: if you think this is a history of end-of-pier gottle of geer merchants, think again
    • 2016, Pat Stewart, The Girl in the Spotty Dress - Memories From The 1950s and The Photo That Changed My Life‎[3], Kings Road Publishing, →ISBN:
      On the same bill was a ventriloquist called Arthur Worsley, who had a doll with the catchphrase 'gottle of geer'.
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