gad about town?

[lepers]

what is a gad? if thats the correct pronunciation of this well known phrase

[woofgang]

a gad is another word for goad which is a sharp pointy thing used to get animals moving. There are also gadflys called this because they have a nasty bite which feels like being stuck with a sharp pointy thing. So "gadding about" or being a "gadabout" is intended to describe somebody who moves around in a rapid and undirected manner

[lepers]

wow i truely am a gad-about-town :D cheers 4 that

[Quizmonster]

Actually, Woofgang and lepers, The Oxford English Dictionary doesn't really agree as regards the 'stung/prodded' connection when related to the idea of 'gadding about'. It claims that this is a (quote) "common view" but one which is "not favoured".
The verb 'gad'  has simply meant 'to rove idly' - ie far from rapidly - since the 1400s. Jane Austen was actually the first recorded user of the phrase 'gad about' some 400 years later.

[commoner]

..to GAD in this context is "to wander aimlessly in search of pleasure"...so a Gad about town is someone who does just that...A playboy .............

[woofgang]

I wonder who doesn't favour it??

[Quizmonster]

Those who don't favour it are the scholars at The Oxford English Dictionary. They don't favour it because the bulk of the quotes they have found involving the word do not support that interpretation.
In the sense of 'rushing' about, which did exist, they offer no quote more recent than the 1600s. The dictionary goes on to say it is (quote) "rarely used". It also refers to "the few passages which in any degree countenance it..." Altogether, a pretty comprehensive dismissal, I'd say.
It's probably of no great interest, but I don't favour it either, based purely on the usage of the word as I have experienced it over nearly seven decades.
But what the hey! We're not about to fall out over a three-letter word, W, I'm sure!

[woofgang]

absolutely not, I was just interested by the use of that phrase