gammon vs ham

gammon

noun
  • A cut of quick-cured pork leg. 

  • Backgammon (the game itself). 

  • A rope fastening a bowsprit to the stem of a ship (usually called a gammoning). 

  • A victory in backgammon achieved when the opponent has not borne off a single stone. 

  • A middle-aged or older right-wing, reactionary white man, or such men collectively. 

verb
  • To lash with ropes (on a ship). 

  • To cure bacon by salting. 

  • To beat by a gammon (without the opponent bearing off a stone). 

ham

noun
  • Meat from the thigh of a hog cured for food. 

  • An amateur radio operator. 

  • A thigh and buttock of an animal slaughtered for meat. 

  • Electronic mail that is wanted; mail that is not spam or junk mail. 

  • An overacting or amateurish performer; an actor with an especially showy or exaggerated style. 

  • The region back of the knee joint; the popliteal space; the hock. 

  • The back of the thigh. 

verb
  • To overact; to act with exaggerated emotions. 

How often have the words gammon and ham occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )