In reply to UKC Articles:
"Next up, the long diagonal line through monster roofs that is Gob, a timeless enactment of Robin Smith's audacity. I've wondered about the name; perhaps he spat from the final belay, and followed its mesmerising, uninterrupted fall."
The Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal of 1960 (- the one with "The Bat and the Wicked" in it) contains a lengthy letter from the new editor on "The Naming of Climbs".
In it he bemoans "irritatingly pointless" names such as "...Gnib, Gnob, Ouch....., by which the less gifted seek to perpetuate their achievements in the vertical."
He also suggests that suitable use of Gaelic should be considered.
Robin Smith never named a climb without thought. Gob was climbed in 1960, and was accompanied with the explanation, tongue firmly in cheek, that Gob was Gaelic for "the beak of a bird".
Some other climbs he did around then were also named or described with a bit of humour: "Thunder Rib, 1000 feet, Very Severe. Start left of Deep Gash Gully. Follow the line of least resistance to the top."
His route descriptions were often superb, and its a great pity they have been homogenised in subsequent guidebooks.
Great article, by the way.