She explained: "The first example is in the US Navy, for an enlisted sailor - that's the 1910s. 30 years later it appears in Irish-English, to mean a foolish, incompetent or gullible person... someone who talks nonsense and speaks incessantly. "You definitely popularised it, but it was around in the US Navy first."

Is Gobshite an Irish word?

noun Chiefly Irish Slang: Vulgar. a mean and contemptible person, especially a braggart. a stupid and incompetent person.

Is the word Gobshite offensive?

In case you were wondering, it's apparently okay to call someone a shite, a gobshite, or even a bogshite on the airwaves of Northern Ireland. ... The BBC Trust is careful to say that these words are not very offensive in Northern Ireland, as opposed to "other parts of the UK." I wonder where those "other parts" might be.