glommed on to

E

emilymonster

Member
Leicestershire
England
Hi,
I was reading a story and came across this phrase:
Ben had glommed on to Nick nearly the moment they arrived.
I'm guessing the 'glommed on' bit means something in the region of gladly joined (?!) but I'm really not certain.
Could you please explain what this actually means? Is it generally an AE term?
Thank you, Emily
 
    • emilymonster said:
    Hi,
    I was reading a story and came across this phrase:
    Ben had glommed on to Nick nearly the moment they arrived.
    I'm guessing the 'glommed on' bit means something in the region of gladly joined (?!) but I'm really not certain.
    Could you please explain what this actually means? Is it generally an AE term?
    Thank you, Emily
    Click to expand...

    Hi Emily,

    WR dictionary gives "to latch on to". It's new to my ears, so probably AE.

    I see a connection with the French verb "gommer" - to glue, stick on.

    LRV
     
    Agreed, and that suggestion for etymology makes sense, although the word is at such a low register that I'm not entirely convinced. It's also pejorative.
    Anyway, he stuck to Ben like glue, in a way that was most unwelcome from Ben's point of view (and that of the speaker).
     
    Originally US Slang for steal, grab, snatch .... hence grasp, seize hold of avidly .... perhaps even to the point of obsession. For example:
    Glomming occurs when you discover an author and set about buying up her backlist.

    It sounds rather leech-like.

    (Above general impression gathered from a rapid scan of some of the >100,000 hits for glommed in Google)

    Etymologically, from glaum, a Scottish word of the 18th century, meaning to snatch at.
     
    The term is used a lot in my region. To me, it has a negative connotation associated with greed. Ben glommed on to Nick. --He got a hold of Nick and wouldn't share him with anyone else. Who glommed all the cookies? --Someone ate all the cookies and didn't share.
     
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