The origin of this comes from the many conversations that I have encountered over the years that have often puzzled me. It happens when you come across someone who is in mid-thought, vocally. You are suddenly thrust into their ongoing narrative. Which has begun long before you showed up and will continue after your presence has been removed. The conversation is connotated with a low brow, crude vernacular and accompanied by wild gesticulations. This person is spinning a yarn and trying their best to communicate some point that is all connected in their mind yet lack the necessary faculties to string together a cohesive sentence. You listen intently and try to understand the picture that they are trying to paint for you.
Then they hit you with the phrase gnome slayin‘ as way to gather if you are understanding and picking up what they are putting down. This phrase is one that I have often used as an exclamation to something utterly ridiculous coming out of my mouth. However, in these instances, the phrase “do you know what I am saying?’ is too formal and a waste of time. At first the reaction is to shrug it off, but the conversation continues with this being the ultimate call back from them. Gnome slayin’. The weird part is if you entertain it long enough, eventually you will get to the point that you somehow know what they are saying. Maybe, at least you convince them as well as you convince yourself that you gnome slayin’.