Ye gods!
This expression may have its origin in classical times, at a period in history when many gods were worshipped. In the 17th century it was a variation of the more usual and blasphemous, ‘Oh, my God.’
At some point, ‘and little fishes’ was added, and was first seen in print in 1830. It may have been a gentle reference to the story of the feeding of the five thousand, recorded in all four gospels. The words were added to soften the phrase and turn it into a ‘minced oath.’ A minced oath is one which has been adapted or cut up to be less offensive.
Minced oaths have been used since the 14th century, from Wikipedia:‘when "gog" and "kokk", both euphemisms for God, were in use. Other early minced oaths include "Gis" or "Jis" for Jesus (1528)’
Minced oaths may involve substituting similar words, or adjusting a phrase. Thus, gosh substitutes for God, heck for hell, and darn for damn. Gee derives from Jesus, Blimey from God blind me and Crikey from Christ. Even Jiminy Cricket is less innocent than it sounds – look at the initial letters.
Jiminy Cricket. I'd never noticed. I a Jeremy with his last name beginning with C. I don't believe he is religious, and I used to see him with his mother, and I don't think she is religious either.
ReplyDeleteJiminy Cricket was a new one to me - that naughty Walt Disney!
DeleteAnd all my life I have been unaware of these meanings.
ReplyDelete. . . and none the poorer for it, either! 😊
DeleteOMG! This is so amazing! It's so much fun to learn this!
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteJeepers Creepers! And hell's bells, you said a mouthful!
ReplyDeleteThey seem relatively mild compared with what issues regularly from people's mouths these days.
DeleteFun stuff. I knew some of this.
ReplyDeleteWe could become stuttering fools if we watched every word . . .
DeleteI catch myself saying, "Good God" sometimes. I wouldn't call it praise, and I have no idea why. I feel like someone in my youth said this a lot but I can't recall whom?
ReplyDeleteRepetition leads to familiarity and I think that's why so many people use foul language so frequently. It's actually remarkable to watch or listen to a film or play and not hear obscenities in every other word.
DeleteI must stop using words that I had no idea were actually religious oaths eg crikey! Who knew?
ReplyDeleteOnce they have lost their original offensive use, or they have been forgotten, as most of them have, I think it matters little, except to a few sticklers.
DeleteI didn't know Gosh was a substitute for God, nor Jiminy Cricket for JC.
ReplyDeleteGosh was a surprise to me, too.
DeleteThis is all very interesting. Who know especially that Gees .. was a minced oath for Jesus- I didn't! and Jiminy Cricket makes sense too. Thanks for a good read.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteMy minced oath is 'Sugar', I use it too much.
ReplyDeleteLOL!
DeleteAnd now I know! I once got told off for saying Blimey, something I had heard my whole life before moving here, and not using it all the time, but it occasionally slipped out. The annoyed party, a friend of the family and now a priest but wasn’t at the time, explained what it meant. Did not have a clue!
ReplyDeleteSometimes, I feel I should never speak again, for fear of offending someone. 🤣😂
DeleteBonjour Jabblog , votre billet intitulé « Dieux ! » est une pépite linguistique, à la fois érudite et délicieusement espiègle, vous avez su, avec une élégance toute britannique, nous faire voyager à travers les siècles de langage et de croyances, révélant les subtilités des « serments hachés » comme autant de clins d’œil à l’histoire et à la pudeur des mots, c’est un plaisir rare de lire une réflexion aussi fine, où l’humour côtoie la philologie avec tant de légèreté, je me permets, avec beaucoup de respect, de vous suivre dans votre liste d’amis, c’est avec grand plaisir que je vous invite également à découvrir mon univers, fait de poésie, de réflexions et de partages sensibles, si cela vous parle, j’aimerais beaucoup que vous me suiviez à votre tour, je vous souhaite un très bon week-end, riche en découvertes, en sourires et en mots choisis, avec toute mon amitié littéraire, Régis
ReplyDeleteBonjour, Régis. Merci pour vos aimables remarques. Je vous récompenserai pour votre visite
DeleteDespite already knowing the meaning of most of these, I still continue to use them
ReplyDeleteJust waiting to be struck down by a thunderbolt any day now.
Tut, tut, JayCee - I thought you were such a refined lady!
DeleteI didn't know half of those. That's really interesting.
ReplyDelete😊
DeleteI have never heard them called minced oaths, but that is what they are. in the southern states I grew up using these, and still do. I have often wondered if using the minced words are the same as the words we don't want to use.
ReplyDeleteOh My Word! I just that over and over and What The Heck? I don't give a darn. these are the three I use the most
I don't think they carry the same meaning as they once did. 😉
DeleteI don't think I ever heard the expression "minced oaths" before, even if I'm aware of the phenomenon as such. We do of course have our own similar kinds of euphemistic oaths in Swedish as well.
ReplyDeleteThe evolution of language is interesting, I think. I hope we never reach a stage where everyone sounds the same.
DeleteI never would have thought that about Jiminy Cricket but now that I see it I can't unsee it.
ReplyDeleteJiminy Cricket surprised me, too. It sounds so innocuous.
DeleteAll of these I have heard and at some time there have been a couple of these that I have actually said in my conversations.
ReplyDeleteOnly a puritan would avoid all these phrases!
DeleteThat was the expression used by Zaneeta Shinn, the daughter of Mayor Shinn in "The Music Man" by Meredith Wilson. When I saw the phrase, I heard the actress who plays Zaneeta in the 1962 film. 😺
ReplyDeleteGreat memory prompt!
DeleteA great post and a reminder to me to occasionally ' watch my mouth!'
ReplyDeleteAlison in Devon x