Talk:Minced oath

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Where have these definitions come from? Some of them don't look right to me.

Eg:

  • Heck = 'Hell' blended with 'Fuck'
  • Shucks = 'Shit' blended with 'Fuck'

Just because they have a ck in, does it mean they're blended with "fuck"? I've never though of either of them as that. Checking them in the OED and Merriam-Webster, both say the same thing: heck is a euphamism for hell, and shucks is from shuck which means the shell of a pea, hence something of little/no value - neither dictionary mentions shit or fuck for these words. I guess this whole list needs checking. fabiform | talk 14:41, 2 Apr 2004 (UTC)

You're right. Check out http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=heck&searchmode=none and http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=shucks&searchmode=none . Citizen Premier 16:25, 7 August 2005 (UTC)

  • I don't believe "feck" deserves to be mentioned as a euphemism for "fuck". "Feck" was established in common Irish speech, apparently not related to "fuck"—instead a corruption of Irish Gaelic words.
Doshea3 19:40, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] By Jove

"(Jove is another name for Zeus, the most powerful Roman deity)"

The Roman god to which this refers is most commonly known as Jupiter, and the link points to a page entitled Jupiter, so why use the name Zeus, which is almost always used in reference to the Greek god? I'd change this myself, but my knowledge of classical mythology is extremely limited, and it seems obvious enough that it would not have been unintentionally, although I can't fathom why it should be so.

TheJames 17:00, 4 August 2005 (UTC)

I suggested a link between "by Jove" and "Jehovah", but Jfruh removed it entirely because they're not etymologically related. True, "Jove" in this phrase is etymologically the short name for "Jupiter", and expanding "Jove" as "Jehovah" in this instance would be a folk etymology involving a false cognate. But still, isn't it likely that this is in the back of the speaker's mind when he uses "by Jove" to mean "by God"? --Damian Yerrick 23:38, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

If we have it in, we should make it very clear that it is in fact a folk etymology. --Jfruh 03:21, 10 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Blimey!

So according to the article, 'Cor blimey' is 'God blind me' and 'Gorblimey' is 'God blame me'. Surely one of those is wrong, but which is it ladies and gentlemen?

Mooky 05:39, 9 August 2005 (UTC)

    It's the latter that is wrong. Blimey = 'Blind me' Xyster 13:45, 10 October 2005 (UTC)

Son of a gun

It is not known if "son of a gun" actually originated from sailors' wives giving birth under cannons aboard ship. Look here.

Flaming Heck

Not sure I understand why this isn't simply a euphemism for 'Flaming Hell'; it would make a lot more sense. What's the source for this? Xyster 13:50, 10 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Organization

This page got really boring for me because all the words are in alphabetical order. That means 5 words meaning "Jesus" in a row then two ordinary ones then more "Jesus" then etc. etc. I think they should be listed in headings: "Jesus" including "For Christs Sake" and so on then another main heading for "God" etc. Gohst 10:23, 15 December 2005 (UTC)


In New Zealand, 'Christchurch, Dunedin, Invercargill and the Bluff' is a common minced oath. Really. They are all South Island towns.

[edit] Hey Zeus = Jesus?

I would argue that it's not actually greeting the god Zeus, but, in fact, pronouncing Jesus in a different language (I know it's how you pronounce it in Spanish, and probably others). —The preceding unsigned comment was added by StarkRG (talk • contribs) 13:44, 18 December 2005 (UTC).

Actually, that's not how "Jesus" is pronounced in Spanish. "Jesus" (spelled "Jesús" in Spanish) is pronounced "he-soos", with a pronounced 'h' and an open 'e' as in "hell". Capi 06:16, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 'Smeg'

Isn't Red Dwarf's 'Smeg' short for smegma?

No. Not intentionally. It just happens to be shorter than smegma which is a COMPLETELY unrelated word. Gohst 11:33, 4 February 2006 (UTC) (wrong - see below)

NEW: Smeg in Red Dwarf is used to mean Smegma, and in turn as an expletive. Saccerzd 18:08, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

I wouldnt be so sure. I think the producers may have just said that to be cagey. If you watch the 2nd Smeg Outs video with footage from a Red Dwarf convention, observe Craig Charles response when a kid asks him what smeg means. 172.214.128.160 17:14, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

It's a little difficult to call. It seems that the relationship was not originally intended. If a made up word happens to correspond to another real one by accident, should it be assumed that they are related?

[edit] Frag

But see http://www.answers.com/frag&r=67

frag (frăg) Slang.
n: A fragmentation grenade.
tr.v., fragged, frag·ging, frags: To wound or kill (a fellow soldier) by throwing a grenade or similar explosive at the victim: “He got fragged. Blown away” (Bobbie Ann Mason).


[edit] Oh my heck and Utah

As someone who moved to Utah after growing up in southern California I found "oh my heck" to be quite amusing. People here do say "oh my hell" when they're trying to sound more profane. They for the most part, however, aren't aware that it doesn't exist outside of Utah and that saying "oh my hell" is just as odd sounding to outsiders as "oh my heck." —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.2.79.247 (talk • contribs) 18:09, March 31, 2006 (UTC).

[edit] GM Chrysler?

"GM Chrysler." It should be self-explanatory just by saying it out loud. Just something I heard once.

[edit] Fsck

I've seen (and sometimes used) "fsck" on geek message boards. Maybe it should be added. Oobyduby 20:57, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] This list has gotten out of hand...

... and I believe it's partly my fault for organizing it like this. It seems that the current formatting is viewed as an open invitation for people to add whatever silly variations of 'fuck' and 'shit' that they can come up with.

I see several problems with the list. Firstly, it is disproportionally long for its importance, and I can't see this amount of detail being useful to anyone. Perhaps more importantly, however, these non-words are unverifiable. They are mostly just words used in colloquial speech, without any written material to cite. In addition to allowing falsities and silliness, listing only minced oaths that the editors have heard opens the door wide open for a strong cultural systematic bias.

I'm not sure what the solution is. Perhaps it will just require a severe trimming? ~ Booya Bazooka 06:32, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. "God bless America" for "God"? What is that? Oh my god bless america? A lot of these could be deleted-- we don't need every minced oath ever. IMFromKathlene 23:30, 15 July 2006 (UTC)
Many could be deleted, indeed. But which ones? ~ Booya Bazooka 00:07, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
I have removed the list from this article altogether and moved it to List of minced oaths. Which I hope will get deleted very soon. - ∅ (∅), 09:42, 25 July 2006 (UTC)
I moved the historical examples there too. - ∅ (∅), 09:35, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wooden swearing

I won't make the addition until I can pin down a couple of examples, but in the Little House on the Prairie books, the mother (Ma) uses the term "wooden swearing" to refer to minced oaths. I'll also think about whether it's there's an appropriate way or place — maybe in a section about social responses to minced oaths ‐ to add an item about Maya Angelou's story about being punished as a child for saying "By the way," which her grandmother considered as an oath ("the Way" representing Jesus) but which could in that case be considered a minced oath by others. Hope that makes sense. Lawikitejana 06:02, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

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