Great Scott
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Great Scott! is an exclamation of surprise or amazement which was commonly found in superhero comic books and often said by Superman; it is also known as a line from the character Doc Brown of the Back to the Future film trilogy. The expression dates back at least to the American Civil War, where the phrase appears in the 3 May 1864 diary entry by Private Robert Knox Sneden (later published as Eye of the Storm: a Civil War Odyssey). “ ‘Great Scott,’ who would have thought that this would be the destiny of the Union Volunteer in 1861–2 while marching down Broadway to the tune of ‘John Brown’s Body’ ”.[1]
One possible origin is that it refers to a real person. In an 1871 issue of Galaxy magazine, there is the sentence: "‘Great—Scott!’ he gasped in his stupefaction, using the name of the then commander-in-chief for an oath, as officers sometimes did in those days”. And in a May 1861 edition of the New York Times: “These gathering hosts of loyal freemen, under the command of the great SCOTT”. These appear to be references to the one-time commander of the U.S. Army, General Winfield Scott.
Another possible origin of the phrase is that people seeking to emulate the German Prince Albert altered and anglicized "Gruess Gott!", or "Good God!" into "Great Scott!". The etymologist and author John Ciardi once believed this, but later recanted in a radio broadcast in 1985.
The exclamation can also be found in C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia, such as by Digory in the first book "The Magician's Nephew", or by Peter in the second book "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe".
In the television cartoon Sheep in the Big City, there is a character called Great Scott, who appears every time anyone says "Great Scott", saying "Ye-e-e-s?".
The exclamation has also been borrowed by:
- Great Scott, a live music venue in Allston, Massachusetts.[2]
- Great Scott, a band from Annapolis, Maryland.
- Great Scott, a defunct supermarket chain in the Detroit area
- John Schweigert, an ex-professional wrestler known as "The Great Scott".[3]
- Mr. Wilson, a character in Dennis the Menace (TV series)
- Hiro Nakamura, a character on the NBC drama Heroes, in the episode "Six Months Ago".
