gadabout

Did You Know?

If you had to pick the insect most closely related to a gadabout, you might wryly guess the "social butterfly." But there's another bug that's commonly heard buzzing around discussions of gadabout-the gadfly. Gadfly is a term used for any of a number of winged pests (such as horseflies) that bite or annoy livestock. Since gadflies are known for their nasty bite, it's not surprising that they are named after a sharp chisel or pointed bar used by miners to loosen rock and ore called a gad. But, although a gadabout's gossip can bite, gadfly doesn’t have any clear etymological relation to gadabout, which traces back to the Middle English verb gadden, meaning "to wander without a specific aim or purpose."