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EuroLex/E/Gremlin

From Wikiversity
  • Original language: English (maybe from Irish gruaimin 'bad-tempered little fellow')
  • Original form and meaning: 1) 'an imaginary creature responsible for mechanical faults', 2) 'a figure from a movie of the same name', 3) 'a small toy-figure'


(Note: If the status is not specifically indicated then the word is stylistically neutral and generally used; if earlier meaning and status equals current use the former may be expressed by writing "dito". Cf. also the project guidelines.)


Language Form Date of Borrowing (and Obsolescence) Current Meaning and Status Earlier Meanings and Statusses Source
Catalan ... ... '...' '...' ...
Croatian ... ... '...' '...' ...
Czech ... ... '...' '...' ...
Danish ... ... '...' '...' ...
Dutch ... ... '...' '...' ...
English gremlin oral use in R.A.F. aviators' slang from Malta, Middle East and India said to date to 1923; first printed use perhaps in poem in journal "Aeroplane" April 10, 1929; certainly in use by 1941, and popularized in World War II and picked up by Americans (e.g. "New York Times" Magazine April 11, 1943); possibly from a dialectal survival of O.E. gremman 'to anger, vex' + -lin of goblin; or from Ir. gruaimin 'bad-tempered little fellow'; Surfer slang for 'young surfer, beach trouble-maker' is from 1961 see above [1]
Estonian ... ... '...' '...' ...
Finnish gremlin [= English pronunciation] ? meaning 2, but known mainly to bilinguals dito DEA*
French gremlin ... meaning 1, but known mainly to bilinguals dito DEA*
Frisian ... ... '...' '...' ...
German Gremlin [= Engl. pron.] 1980s meanings 2 and 3, restricted to technical use dito DEA*
Hungarian ... ... '...' '...' ...
Irish ... ... '...' '...' ...
Italian gremlin [= English pronunciation] 1990s meaning 2; status: restricted use dito DEA*
Latvian ... ... '...' '...' ...
Lithuanian ... ... '...' '...' ...
Maltese ... ... '...' '...' ...
Norwegian gremlin [= Engl. pron.] 1980s meaning 2, restricted to youth language, obsolete dito DEA*
Polish gremlin end20c meaning 1, restricted to colloquial language dito DEA*
Portuguese ... ... '...' '...' ...
Rumantsch ... ... '...' '...' ...
Slovak ... ... '...' '...' ...
Slovenian ... ... '...' '...' ...
Spanish gremlin['gremlin] 1980s meaning 2, status: restricted to technical use, rare dito DEA*
Swedish ... ... '...' '...' ...
  • Annotations: *DEA = Dictionary of European Anglicisms by Manfred Görlach (2001), Oxford: OUP.
  • Information on Other Languages: Icelandic: gremlin [= Engl. pron.], 1980s, meaning 2 and 3, restricted to youth language, obsolete; Russian: grimli, 1990s; meaning 2, restricted to youth and colloquial language; Greek: gremlins, end20c; meaning 2 and 3, but restricted to colloquial and modish use,