But what is a Gam? You might wear out your index-finger running up and down the columns of dictionaries, and never find the word, Dr. Johnson never attained to that erudition; Noah Webster’s ark does not hold it. Nevertheless, this same expressive word has now for many years been in constant use among some fifteen thousand true born Yankees. Certainly, it needs a definition, and should be incorporated into the Lexicon. With that view, let me learnedly define it. Gam. NOUN—A social meeting of two (or more) Whaleships, generally on a cruising-ground; when, after exchanging hails, they exchange visits by boats’ crews, the two captains remaining, for the time, on board of one ship, and the two chief mates on the other.

‘She changes her shape depending on which way you're coming at her. Once you know the contours of Bulgonunna you'll never get bushed in this country.’

Nanny Broome was looking up at the outer wall. Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime.

But even so, the gay boys who are out cruising aren’t being especially cautious. They’ve even made a pickup gambit out of it. “If that bulge in your pants isn’t a knife, let’s go for a walk.” That sort of thing.