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Gobsmacked 

Professor David Crystal 

English loves compound words: 'washing machine' and all that 

sort of thing. But when you get a compound word, the two parts 

of the compound are usually stylistically very homogeneous, in 

other words, they are the same style: formal first part – formal 

second part, and so on. You don't usually get a compound word 

where the first part is a slang thing and the second part is a 

rather ordinary or formal thing – they don't usually mix – but 

gobsmacked is a perfect exception to that rule.  

To be gobsmacked – it means to be astounded, flabbergasted, 

speechless with amazement. And what you've got is the perfectly 

ordinary word 'smacked' (to smack) and a northern word 'gob'. 

Gob is the northern word for mouth. I used to live in Liverpool 

for many years and you'd say to people "ah, shut yer gob", you 

know, and it simply means, mouth. So, to be 'gobsmacked' is to 

be struck dumb as if by a smack in the face.  

Now, it's got a more general use these days than just in the north. I've heard it 

used throughout the south of England – I've heard it used abroad; it's now very 

widely used 'to be gobsmacked'. Now, why? Because it became a very fashionable 

expression by people on television, not  everybody on television, I'm thinking 

especially of people like sports person alities having a terrible day, something 

horrible happens: footballers in particular are always saying that they're 

gobsmacked at something happening.