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

[Jonathan Lighter]

Thanks, Garson.

JL

On Fri, Mar 11, 2011 at 1:21 AM, Garson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      goddam, goddem was Re: Albright College slang (1938) -
> bimb(o)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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:
> >
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> >> 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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