How do you pronounce take the gilt off the gingerbread?

The recorded pronunciation is /ˌteɪk ðə ˈɡɪlt ɔf ðə ˈd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒɚˌbɹɛd/.

take the gilt off the gingerbread

/ˌteɪk ðə ˈɡɪlt ɔf ðə ˈd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒɚˌbɹɛd/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.76 in modern English

Syllables: take the gilt off the gin-ger-bread
IPA: /ˌteɪk ðə ˈɡɪlt ɔf ðə ˈd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒɚˌbɹɛd/

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To take away the most attractive or appealing qualities of something; to destroy an illusion.

Example Sentences

"If you only say the word, we shall take the gilt off the gingerbread,—you guess what I mean,—but remember that Sir Robert Walpole said, ‘every man has his price.’"
"The former gentleman too rarely appears amongst us as a solo pianist, did we hear him oftener, we are inclined to think he would, to use a homely figure of speech, "Take the gilt off the gingerbread" of many persons of much higher pretensions."
"A seedy kind of men come to me that can't get credit with regular first houses, and though I get very good prices out of 'em all, I've made some losses in particular directions, that quite took the gilt off the gingerbread."
"[D]o we ever dream that in a certain gross number—say a billion—of young lady lovers, there is always a given number ready to cut off their sweethearts' heads and stick them in a flower-pot? Alas! how such a fact takes the gilt off the gingerbread!"
"Notwithstanding the unfinished state of the building [the Royal Albert Hall] and its approaches a concert is to be given in the hall to-morrow (February 25) by the aristocratic musicians, who have earned such a deservedly high reputation under their adopted designation of the "Wandering Minstrels." This first formal concert, which, by the way, seems like "taking the gilt off the gingerbread," is for the entertainment of the workmen of Messrs. Lucas Brothers, the contractors."
"He was one whose main business was, in his own view, the pricking of illusions, the stripping away of disguises, and even the destruction of ideals. He was a sort of anti-confectioner whose whole business it was to take the gilt off the gingerbread."

Etymology

In the Middle Ages, gingerbread cakes were decorated with a thin layer of gold leaf. Without this casing, they were considered to be humble offerings, generally being little more than flavoured but stale bread.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˌteɪk ðə ˈɡɪlt ɔf ðə ˈd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒɚˌbɹɛd/
British English: /ˌteɪk ðə ˈɡɪlt ɒf ðə ˈd͡ʒɪn(d͡)ʒəbɹɛd/

Inflected Forms

takes the gilt off the gingerbread (present, singular) taking the gilt off the gingerbread (participle, present) took the gilt off the gingerbread (past) taken the gilt off the gingerbread (participle, past)