gommed up
Smeared, sticky-messed, or otherwise ruined.
Also called gaumed up, gormed up.
Updated September 21, 2026
gommed up pronunciation
/GAHMD up/
Meaning
Covered in grease, mud, molasses, or general chaos. A baby's face after cornbread. A carburetor after bad gas. A porch after muddy boots. From Appalachian gom/gaum for a sticky mess. Folks also say it when somebody botches a job: "He gommed that up real good."
How folks use it
- “Don't come in here with those boots. You'll get the floor all gommed up.”
- “He tried to fix the mower himself and got the whole carb gommed up.”
Origin and etymology
From dialect gaum/gom, a sticky or greasy mess, recorded in Appalachian English by the late 1800s (Kephart and later DARE). Likely tied to older British dialect; exact root is a little murky, maybe nudged by gum or axle coom. Spellings bounce between gaumed, gormed, and gommed.