Gophers

Many thanks to those who have helped me out on this.  I was intrigued when I first saw the word because it reminded me of my mother-in-law who used to goffer the ruffs that the choir boys wore on Sundays.  The goffering iron created beautiful frills, and had to be reheated on the stove at frequent intervals.  I have since turned to the Oxford English Dictionary and see that the etymology of goffer is gaufrer from the French and gaufre means a honeycomb.  And the OED  quotes Webster "gaufre was used by the French settlers in North America as a name for various burrowing animals, and is a transferred use of gaufre honeycomb".  

The OED also gives the name gopher to inhabitants of Arkansas or Minnesota (this is under the pocket gopher meaning) and to inhabitants of Florida (under the land- tortoise meaning).  Do you really call them gophers?  And if you do, do they like this?   

I think the nearest thing over in UK is the mole, which people either love or hate, depending on whether they are gardeners or not.  The only application to humans that I know of is where someone is working underground in a metaphorical sense, i.e. unknown to fellow workers, possibly as a spy.

Joan, UK
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