Not P but Moby-Dick (31)

[Mike Jing]

The original meaning of "gape" and "yawn" are basically the same. According
to the OED:

gape
1.a.i. To open the mouth wide, esp. in order to bite or swallow anything.
Said also of the mouth.

yawn
1. To open the mouth wide voluntarily, esp. in order to swallow or devour
something; in early use often, to have the mouth wide open; to gape. Said
also of the mouth.

Later on, they diverged and took on more specific meanings:

gape
3.a. to gape on or upon, now more commonly to gape at: to stare at with
open mouth, to gaze upon in curiosity or wonder.

yawn
4.a. To make involuntarily a prolonged inspiration with the mouth wide open
and the lower jaw much depressed, as from drowsiness or fatigue.

But also:

gape
6.a. To yawn, esp. from weariness.

So I think here "gaped", "open-mouthed", and "yawning" all mean basically
the same thing, which is closer to the original meaning than more
specifically due to drowsiness or fatigue.



On Mon, Oct 30, 2023 at 6:43 AM Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:

> I just saw this and think you should not doubt the dictionary
> definitions here. yawning means yawning, I would say.
>
> See if there was an etymological difference back in the day of writing it.
> OED.
>
> On Tue, Oct 24, 2023 at 5:24 AM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Out of the five existing translations I have at hand, three interpreted
>> "gaped" as "open-mouthed", which makes "open-mouthed at times" redundant,
>> while the other two interpreted it as "yawning", which doesn't seem right
>> either. As a matter of fact, even the word "yawning" that follows doesn't
>> seem to mean literally yawning, but only indicates his laid-back attitude.
>> Is that correct?
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Oct 24, 2023 at 12:39 AM Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > To gape is to stare, slack jawed, as if unimpressed by the field of
>> > view—or speechlessly overwhelmed by it. One might gape with boredom or
>> > wonder. The context is pretty clear in this case.
>> >
>> > Sent from my iPhone
>> >
>> > > On Oct 23, 2023, at 8:03 PM, Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com
>> >
>> > wrote:
>> > >
>> > > From Chapter 48:
>> > >
>> > > Besides he all the time looked so easy and indolent himself, so
>> > loungingly
>> > > managed his steering-oar, and so broadly gaped—open-mouthed at
>> times—that
>> > > the mere sight of such a yawning commander, by sheer force of
>> contrast,
>> > > acted like a charm upon the crew.
>> > >
>> > > What's the difference between "gaped" and "open-mouthed" here?
>> > > --
>> > > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>> >
>> --
>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>>
>