Great Scott! is an exclamation of surprise, amazement, or dismay.
The origin of the expression is uncertain, with several plausible sources.
A likely source is as a reference to American Civil War commander‑in‑chief of the U.S. Army, General Winfield Scott. The general, known to his troops as Old Fuss and Feathers, weighed 300 pounds (21 stone or 136 kg) in his later years and was too fat to ride a horse.[1] A May 1861 edition of the New York Times included the sentence:
In an 1871 issue of the Galaxy, the expression itself is quoted:
The phrase also appears in the 3 May 1864 diary entry by Private Robert Knox Sneden (later published as Eye of the Storm: a Civil War Odyssey):
Another possible origin is an anglicized corruption of an expression used by the German Albert, Prince Consort of Queen Victoria, transforming "Grüss Gott" ("Greet God") into "Great Scott". The etymologist and author John Ciardi once believed this, but later recanted in a radio broadcast in 1985.
Similarly, the expression could be a minced oath, derived from the English phrase "[by the] grace of God".
Another possible source comes from Mark Twain's hate for Sir Walter Scott and his writing, which popularized historical fiction and romanticized war in general. Twain's disdain for Scott is evident in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, in which the main character repeatedly utters "great Scott" as an oath, and in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, where he names a sinking boat the Walter Scott.
Mark Twain uses the phrase extensively in his books, including Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Following the Equator, and others.
The exclamation can be found in the works of C.S. Lewis, used by Digory Kirke in The Magician's Nephew, and by Peter in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and also appearing in his Space Trilogy.
Dr. Watson habitually uses the expression in the Rathbone-Bruce Sherlock Holmes films made between 1939 and 1946.
As an inoffensive expression, the phrase "Great Scott" came to be commonly used in superhero comic books for children during the mid 20th century; Superman uses the expression frequently in this era. It is similarly used by Birdman, a Hanna-Barbera cartoon superhero, as well as by Superman and Batman in the Super Friends animated series.
In Blackadder Goes Forth, General Melchett and others use the exclamation.
Cult classic film[2] The Rocky Horror Picture Show has a character named Dr. Everett von Scott. At one point Brad Majors (played by Barry Bostwick) sees him and exclaims, "Great Scott!" This line is typically lampooned by the audience by throwing Scottissue brand toilet paper.
It is used frequently and memorably by Doctor Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future film trilogy [3]. The phrase is occasionally used in reference to this by Hiro Nakamura on the television science-fiction series, Heroes, albeit sometimes in an exaggerated Japanese ("Gureito Sukotto!").
The animated television series Sheep in the Big City has a character called "Great Scott" who appears every time anyone says the phrase, replying "Ye-e-e-s?".
The phrase appears as a prominent plot element in the movie No Strings Attached (2011).
Great Scott! was the name of a now-defunct supermarket chain in the Detroit, Michigan area. The 37-store chain was merged into the Kroger Company in September 1990.[4] This chain is not related to a still-operating supermarket chain in Northwest Ohio, which operates as Great Scot.
The term is sometimes used as a nickname for the unabridged version of A Greek-English Lexicon, from one of its editors, Robert Scott.