Gawjus, as in "Ain't she gawjus."

You say "potato," and I say "patata," is a famous line from a song about different ways of pronouncing the same word. When considering the "gorgeous" and "gawjus," you might be tempted to assume that they are also simply two different pronunciations, but you might be wrong.

Though "gawjus" did not evolve from a very different word like "cunnin'" (cute) did from "cunning" (clever), the meanings of "gorgeous" and "gawjus" are not identical. 

I suspect that while "ain't she gawjus," and "what a gawjus day" line up quite well with common English uses of the word "gorgeous," ("isn't she gorgeous" and "what a gorgeous day"), Mainers may use it in other ways that are unique to this part of the the world, like to refer to the way maple sap is running in sugaring season. I can't imagine people using the word "gorgeous" to refer to the flow of sap, but "gawjus?" Heck yes.

Of course, the word gorgeous itself emerged from the French "gorge," which means neck, which says a lot about what the French (and loads of other people) find beautiful.

Now ya know!