Literal translation
like a stuffing
Meaning
very badly
Explanation
The expression is built on gamata, to stuff, to fill a dish with various ingredients without much concern for harmony, the underlying idea being a mismatched mix made of pieces that do not naturally go together. Coumo uno gamato describes something done very badly, without accuracy or coherence, starting with the singing of someone who strings together wrong notes the way one might heap ingredients into a stuffing without any method. By extension, the expression then applies to speech, and more broadly to any action carried out clumsily or messily, each new use widening the original culinary term's range. The register is familiar and readily mocking, used to poke fun at a botched performance, whether musical, verbal, or practical, without necessarily aiming any deep unkindness at the person involved. It illustrates a frequent Provençal device that carries concrete culinary vocabulary over into judging all sorts of skills.