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Gam (gam)

Common clue: Pinup’s leg

Definition: slang for leg, especially an attractive woman’s leg

Considered slang, but recorded by the OED back as far as 1781. The word probably derives the Italian "gamba" = "leg," but it might also derive from the heraldric term "gamb," refering to an animal leg. Both of these ultimately derive from the Late Latin "gamba."

[Source: http://www.panikon.com/phurba/alteng/g.html]


Viewing "It Happened One Night" today, one reacts the same way audiences did in 1934, guffawing loudly throughout and sighing with contentment at the happy ending. The Depression-era movie is funny and full of hope. And the justly famous hitchhiking scene, in which Colbert proves to Gable that a shapely gam is mightier than a north-pointing thumb, is still a model of comic economy and character development. Colbert's uptight heiress learns to loosen up, and Gable's know-it-all newspaper man realizes that he can still learn a few tricks.

[Source: http://www.reelclassics.com/Studios/Columbia/columbia-article-ihon.htm]