Gourock ham is obsolete British slang — specifically from Scotland's west coast — for a salted herring, humorously named after Gourock, a town on the Firth of Clyde historically associated with the fishing and curing trade.
Gourock ham is obsolete British slang — specifically from Scotland's west coast — for a salted herring, humorously named after Gourock, a town on the Firth of Clyde historically associated with the fishing and curing trade. The joke lies in calling a cheap, humble herring by the grand name 'ham.' This kind of ironic elevation of lowly food is a recurring feature of Scottish working-class humour. Firmly archaic and of primarily historical linguistic interest today.
The lodging house supper was Gourock ham and boiled potatoes — humble fare but filling enough.
Add your own interpretation of "Gourock ham".
Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
See all Regional & Other slang on Slangora.
Browse all slang words starting with G.
(UK, slang, obsolete) A salted herring.
A Scottish name for the sprat (Sprattus sprattus), a small herring-like fish found in northern European coastal waters. Also called 'garvie' in Scotland. Sprats were an important part of the working-class diet in coastal Scottish communities, preserved in salt or smoked. The word is regional and now quite obscure outside historical or dialect-focused contexts.
(British, colloquial, archaic) A herring.
(Royal Navy, _, slang, obsolete) Tinned meat or fish.
(UK, obsolete, slang) A salted herring.