gomer

Meaning

Noun

• Alternative of omer: a former Hebrew unit of dry volume equal to about 2.3L or 2.1quarts.
• A conical chamber at the breech of the bore in heavy ordnance, especially in mortars.
• A stupid, awkward, or oafish person.
• An inept trainee or serviceperson.
• An opponent in combat or in training.
• An undesirable hospital patient, or a patient who does not need medical care.
• A dirty, senile, or otherwise unpleasant patient.
• A patient who does not respond to medical treatment.

Related

Narrower meaning words

• Gomerette

Origin

• From Latin gomor in the Vulgate, from Ancient Greek γομόρ in the Septuagint, from Hebrew עומר
• After Louis-Gabriel de Gomer, the French artillery officer who invented the design. Attested in English since the early nineteenth century.
• Likely from the oafish fictional character Gomer Pyle from the 1960s American sitcom The Andy Griffith Show.
• Uncertain. Perhaps the same as, or influenced by Etymology 3, above. It is frequently claimed that the word is an acronym for "grand old man of the emergency room", or for "Get Out of My ER", the latter story popularized by the 1978 novel The House of God by Samuel Shem. John Algeo (1991) notes that various people claim the word is an acronym or is borrowed from Hebrew גמר ("finish; complete"), but suggests that these accounts are dubious. He concludes that a connection to Gomer Pyle or to the "stupid, awkward person" sense of the word is the most likely source. The Oxford English Dictionary online (2003) likewise treats the "undesirable patient" and "stupid person" senses as uses of the same word.