Antique swear words

[Tiberius Jim]

My grandma commonly used the term "she went to shit and the hogs ate her" when talking about someone who had been gone for a long time. When you think about it, its not only confusing, but its also pretty disturbing...

 

[RJDiogenes]

In my reading of old pulps, I've come across an oddity lately: The use of "son" as a shortened form of "son of a bitch" (which they apparently weren't allowed to use); e.g. "That stupid son screwed up the kidnapping."

It really doesn't work.

 

[Deckerd]

Chaucer used 'queynte' whose etymology doesn't require much imagination to find the modern word.

 

[Roshi]

WillsBauble said:
Hell's bells. My grandma was fond of that one.

I'm still fond of that one!

 

[SPOCKED]

Some Guy said:

SPOCKED said:
WTF is "tarnation" anyway?

What did Sam Hill ever do?

Is sassafrass an antique swear? And why does succotash suffer? Huh...

Baad ol putty tat

Yes, I did reach down into the deep well of Yosemite Sam antique epithets for my choices

 

[K-Star]

My great grandma used to say "pissy shitty farty."

 

[Capn Flukie]

Zikes!

 

[C. Cole-Chakotay]

Boy, some of those older ladies really knew the words. My mother had a pet word many years ago but pretty much quit when she got religion. I won't repeat it here but it was mentioned in the thread above about the person being gone a long time.

 

[shivkala]

Not really a swear, per se, but you hardly ever hear people call others a "dolt" anymore.

 

[M'Sharak]

Flux Capacitor said:
My grandma commonly used the term "she went to shit and the hogs ate her" when talking about someone who had been gone for a long time. When you think about it, its not only confusing, but its also pretty disturbing...

Not confusing at all, once you consider that:
A) it dates to a time (not so long ago, really) when nearly everyone had outhouses, and indoor plumbing was only for the richest of city people
and
B) hogs will eat pretty much anything (remember Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz walking along the top rail of the hog pen and falling in?)

Disturbing? Yeah, there are definitely more pleasant ways to go.

 

[gh4chiefs]

ancientone51 said:
My favorite that my Mom used was the phrase, "Spit fire and save matches."

Interesting. The version I always heard was "Shit fire and save matches."

 

[ancientone51]

^That's the one I use, figured my mom had "modified" it for the kids.

 

[MANT!]

I remember my grandfather..

"Ch*ist on a Crutch!!"

And the old code standby "Sister Mary Francis!!"

 

[M'Sharak]

goldbug said:
I remember my grandfather..

"Ch*ist on a Crutch!!"

Since replaced by "Jumping Jesus on a pogo stick!"

 

[Capn Flukie]

He got better.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I'll bet T'Bonz knows them all.

SEE BECAUSE SHE'S HELLA OLD!

 

[Brent]

Drat

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I just used this one in another thread.

"Ain't that the cat's ass" as a way of saying "That's awesome" or "That's the best."

I haven't heard that expression in years, but my mom and my aunts used to say it a lot when I was younger.

 

[Joy]

Brent said:
Drat

I actually use that one quite often. That, and "dagnabit".

Joy

 

[Capn Flukie]

Just read 'trollop' in another thread.