Posted by Robert Hill on June 15, 1999 at 16:08:23 from sun088.leeds.ac.uk:
In Reply to: Galoot posted by Jenna Darter on June 15, 1999 at 14:59:22:
No. The OED gives 12 quotations for the word, of which 9 are from
the 19th century, the oldest being from 1812. The two earliest spell
it "galloot", the next one "geeloot", all others "galoot".
The 1812 quotation is from a dictionary which defines it simply as
"a soldier", but most of the others seem to carry some connotation of
incompetence or inexperience. The second quotation is from a book by
Captain Marryat of 1835, "Four greater galloots were never picked up".
The OED sums up the usage of the word under two not-very-different
senses. Sense 1 (described as "nautical") is
"An awkward soldier. A soubriquet for the young or 'green' marine".
Sense 2 (described as "orig. U.S.") is
"An awkward or uncouth fellow: often used as a term of good-natured
depreciation."
The definitions for both senses are explicit quotations from earlier
dictionaries, perhaps indicating that the compilers of the OED had
insufficient confidence in the available evidence of the word's usage
to attempt a definition in their own words.
I have a suspicion that the word may be reasonably common in Wild West
films. I certainly remember seeing it in a Wild West comic strip,
possibly before I encountered it in AR.