goddam, goddem was Re: Albright College slang (1938) - bimb(o)

[Garson O'Toole]

Jonathan Lighter wrote
> Cf. the assertion (which I've never double-checked) that the French of some
> earlier century referred to British soldiers as "les goddams."

OED (1989) has goddam (also spelled goddem) with a first unbracketed
citation in 1830.

God-ˈdamn(-me), n.
3. (After French goddam = Old French godon.) An Englishman.

[1431    Joan of Arc in De Barante Ducs de Bourgogne vi. 116   Mais,
fussent-ils [les anglais] cent mille Goddem de plus qu'à présent, ils
n'auront pas ce royaume.]

1830    J. P. Cobbett Jrnl. Tour in Italy 8   It seems the ‘Goddems’
are having some fun.

Here is a cite in 1817. There are some earlier matches in Google
Books, but most are written in French.

Cite: 1817 April 1, The Monthly Magazine (and British Register),
Landing in France, Page 207, Column 1, Number 296, Printed for Richard
Phillips, London. (Google Books full view)

... you proceed through the streets, amidst the gazing by-standers,
the jokes of disappointed porters, and the "Goddems" of impudent boys,
accompanied by the waiter of the hotel, to sit down and reflect
quietly upon the first impression made by this first noisy scene.

http://books.google.com/books?id=JVAoAAAAYAAJ&q=Goddems#v=snippet&

Garson

Jonathan's comment continued:
> Or, if you insist: http://www.anu.edu.au/andc/res/aus_words/wwi/C.php
>
> Scroll down to "cark...".
>
> The ultimate source is a 1920s glossary of Australian soldier slang of 1918.
>
> JL
>
> On Thu, Mar 10, 2011 at 8:53 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster: Â  Â  Â  Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject: Â  Â  Â Re: Albright College slang (1938) - bimb(o)
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> On Thu, Mar 10, 2011 at 3:37 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> > Where was it that you heard the girls saying "bimbo"?
>>
>> Heilbronn am Neckar, Frankfurt am Rhein, Baumholder bei der Nahe.
>>
>> --
>> -Wilson
>> -----
>> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
>> to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>> -Mark Twain
>>
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