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Gowdon Beynet yu arfin a larf?, mice knock at the front door - "We've come to talk to you about cheeses", Mini Spies, On Marilyn M- "I remember her on the screen- huge as a colossal doll- mincing and whispering and simply hoping her way into casual vulnerability."-Gloria Steinem
A commonly known phrase in some parts of the world, used to convey surprise/disbelief/irritation, which I found myself wishing I’d used, when commenting upon a blog last night. Then I thought of Gordon, Mr Bennett and wondered who this man was? Why do we use HIS name when expressing ourselves thus? So I sent the Cloud off on a fact-finding mission to find the answer, and it presented me with the following link – The Phrase Finder, a nifty little site if I ever found one. Which I did not, for it was the Cloud, as I said. Do keep up, I have Clouds to clean you know.
‘It is commonly thought that this expression refers to James Gordon Bennett. JGB was a real person – in fact, with the expansiveness that is appropriate for this story, two real people. The elder James Gordon Bennett was born in Banffshire, Scotland in 1795 and emigrated to the USA, eventually becoming a journalist and founding the New York Herald in 1835.’ – The rest is on the link previously mentioned and now to follow, should you be inclined to read on – The Phrase Finder
I particularly liked this nugget – ‘The expletive Gordon Bennett appears to be a minced oath. It is a version of Gor blimey, which is itself a euphemistic version of God blind me. That, combined with Bennett’s famously outrageous lifestyle and newsworthy stunts, is sufficient to explain why his name was picked out.’
A ‘minced oath‘! How great is that?! So, on-wards, (and, if not upwards, certainly sideways with a melancholy limp,) I clicked to find a long list of said mincers. I now see it is my duty to learn all such oaths in order to save humanity (or something along those lines, I haven’t quite worked out all the details, don’t rush me, it’s a big job). A minced oath is one to replace an actual oath, so instead of ‘Fucking hell’, you would say ‘Flipping Heck’, which has all the impact of swapping a sledge hammer for a banana skin.
There’s a long list of them here, but I’ve cherry-picked a few favourites for this post, and should you know of any that are not mentioned in the list, I’d be very keen to hear them;
Cheese and Rice –> Jesus Christ – Hahahahahahaha
Drat –> God rot it – (I prefer the original now, but both work for me to be honest.)
Figs –> Fuck – (They are awful figs, to be fair.)
Gee willikers –> Jesus – (The mincer is a clear winner here, and takes me by the hand to the Dr. Terwilliker from the wonderful film – ‘The 5000 Fingers of Dr.T which you can have a little peek at by clicking the film title and popping over to another page upon the Cloud.)
Godfrey Daniel –> God (What the deuce?!)
Good garden party –> Good God – (Cheese and Rice…)
Jason Crisp –> Jesus Christ – Hahahahahaha
Odds-bodkins –> God’s sweet body (I beg your pudding?)
Zounds –> God’s wounds (this is an old favourite of sonmi’s, which she had let slip over the years, but has now found again, and all thanks to God!).
Mr Gordon Bennett – Otherwise known as ‘that bloke with a face like a slapped arse’.
Hariod Brawn said:
Min’s Tooth! This is a fine post Sonmi!
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sonmi upon the Cloud said:
Thank you. It was an interesting path to follow for sure.
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PorterGirl said:
These are brilliant! My mother is an enthusiastic user of ‘Gordon Bennett’. A ‘minced oath’ is a marvellous phrase! On the subject of everyone’s favourite F word – legend has it that it originated in the days where criminals were put in the stocks, so to be ridiculed by the public. The name of their offence would be written or placed nearby, so people knew what naughtiness they had been up to. Rapists would be labelled up as ‘For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge’ and so a great expletive was born.
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sonmi upon the Cloud said:
Ha! I’m glad you enjoyed it, and must say, your info on the origin of ‘fuck’ is enlightening, thank you for that Porter Girl shakes her hand.
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PorterGirl said:
You are more than welcome, dear Sonmi 😀
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Hariod Brawn said:
Looking at the website you link to and the examples given there, it appears that the Min’s Tooth may have been a way of avoiding blasphemes – do you think so Sonmi?
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sonmi upon the Cloud said:
I’ve never heard of ‘Min’s Tooth’ before this very day, though have clicked through the link now, thank you for the addition!
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Hariod Brawn said:
And for readers wondering about the etymology and origins of Min’s Tooth, here is the great woman in discussion down the boozer:
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mikesteeden said:
Have you ever Googled the sad tale of Sweet Fanny Adams?
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sonmi upon the Cloud said:
I have now – ‘late 19th century (in sense 2): black humour, from the name of a murder victim circa 1870. Sense 1 dates from the early 20th century, and is sometimes understood as a euphemism for fuck all .‘
Fascinating, thank you Mike for the info shakes his hand too.
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illimitableoceanofinexplicability said:
I have liked this without reservation and would suggest others do so as well for it is chock full of the kind of information that one would think interesting but useless until (at some unknown time in the future (sooner, perhaps, than one would think))finding themselves in some dire situation in which the knowledge gained here would be the only thing separating them from certain doom.
The President and Founder
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sonmi upon the Cloud said:
You speak well P &F, it is a treasure mine for those who are prudent upon Earth (not so much on other planets).
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Peter Schreiner said:
I haven’t a clue who Gordon Bennett is / was, but if that is his mug pictured above I can vouch that he indeed has a face resembling that of a slapped arse. Not that I’ve slapped a many arse to know, you know.
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sonmi upon the Cloud said:
“Not that I’ve slapped a many arse to know, you know.” – You may be missing out there Peter. So they say anyway. I quote a woman of some distinction here – “If you like it do it, if you don’t like it…do it, you might like it.” – Pauline Calf
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Fiona said:
Those are wonderful! I had heard of some of them. We have a few that are typical to South Africa, and which have Dutch roots. One that springs to mind is “jussis” which is pronouced “yussas” for Jesus. I’m sure that there are lots more. Have a good weekend!
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sonmi upon the Cloud said:
Welcome Fiona, I’m glad you enjoyed the list, and shall add “jussis” to my data banks – raps her skull with a set of knuckles – right now. Have a very goof weekend your self smiles.
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donzo442 said:
What about ‘scant as hen’s teeth’? Hmmm, that might be like casting pearls before swine? His ass sucks canal water? You freaking dimwit? I got your mama hanging right here? I’m probably not helping?
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sonmi upon the Cloud said:
You’re just making it up as you go along there! laughs a lot. Freakin’ dimwit gets a mention though for effort.
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donzo442 said:
Yes Ma’am you are correct. I just make shit up as I prattle on and on. Sometimes I’m lying a streak BUT, you have to ask. I’ll tell you if I’m lying. Usually…
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tubularsock said:
Interesting post. But Tubularsock says, “say what you mean, mean what you say” so “Fuck It” works well without being minced! The whole is better than it’s parts! Cheers.
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sonmi upon the Cloud said:
“The whole is better than it’s parts” – Now that is an image that calls for a ‘Cheese and Rice’. Or, saying it as you see it – Fucking hell.
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