What does “gober” mean in French?

Blague sur les règles, les œufs et les poules

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A1 French listening practice · French · Picked for people who know a little

💡 Did you know?
gober
French verb with a double meaning
To swallow whole without chewing — and, figuratively, to swallow any story you’re told.

“Gober un œuf” is to down a raw egg in one gulp, no chewing — the literal sense of “gober,” to swallow by suction. The fun is the second meaning: to “gober” a story is to believe it whole and uncritically, just as English says you “swallowed” a lie. One verb, both the gullible person and the gulped-down egg.

“Elle gobe tout ce qu’on lui dit” means she’ll believe anything. There’s also the dreamy “gober les mouches” (to swallow flies) — to stand around gawping, lost in a daydream. The egg-and-oyster image is so fixed that French speakers picture exactly that head-tilted, one-gulp move whenever “gober” comes up.

How common are the words?

How common are the words in this A1 French listening practice video?

88.9%
of words are in the top 2,000 most common French words
Most of the words in this video are common French words.

How common in written French

88.9%
Top 1,000
88.9%
Top 2,000
93.7%
Top 5,000

How common in spoken French

86.2%
Top 1,000
100%
Top 2,000
100%
Top 5,000
👄 Words for talking
This video uses words people often say in French.

Harder words in this video

These words are harder than A1. Here is what they mean.

ovule
3×
Not in top 5,000
ovum, egg cell
gobe
2×
Not in top 5,000
swallow, gulp down
œuf
4×
Not in top 5,000
egg
poule
1×
Top 5,000People say this a lot
hen, female chicken
gobe un œuf
1×
to swallow/gobble up

Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · Lexique 3.83 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.

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