A minced oath is a

euphemistic A euphemism ( ) is when an expression that could offend or imply something unpleasant is replaced with one that is agreeable or inoffensive. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the u ...

expression formed by deliberately misspelling, mispronouncing, or replacing a part of a profane,

blasphemous Blasphemy refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of Reverence (emotion), reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered Sanctity of life, inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic o ...

, or

taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

word or phrase to reduce the original term's objectionable characteristics. An example is "gosh" for "

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

", or ''fudge'' for ''

fuck ''Fuck'' () is profanity in the English language that often refers to the act of sexual intercourse, but is also commonly used as an intensifier or to convey disdain. While its origin is obscure, it is usually considered to be first attested ...

''. Many languages have such expressions. In the English language, nearly all profanities have minced variants.Hughes, 12.

Formation

Common methods of forming a minced oath are

rhyme A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually the exact same phonemes) in the final Stress (linguistics), stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of rhyming (''perfect rhyming'') is consciou ...

and

alliteration Alliteration is the repetition of syllable-initial consonant sounds between nearby words, or of syllable-initial vowels if the syllables in question do not start with a consonant. It is often used as a literary device. A common example is " Pe ...

. Thus the word ''

bloody ''Bloody'', as an adjective or adverb, is an expletive attributive commonly used in British English, Irish English, New Zealand English and Australian English; it is also present in Canadian English, Indian English, Malaysian/Singaporean ...

'' can become ''

blooming Bloom or blooming may refer to: Science and technology Biology * Bloom, one or more flowers on a flowering plant * Algal bloom, a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in an aquatic system * Jellyfish bloom, a collective n ...

'', or ''

ruddy Ruddy is a reddish-rosy crimson colour, closer to red than to rose. Ruddy may also refer to: Surname * Albert S. Ruddy (born 1930), Canadian-born American film producer * Christopher Ruddy (born 1965), American journalist; CEO of NewsMax Media ...

''. Alliterative minced oaths such as ''darn'' for ''damn'' allow a speaker to begin to say the prohibited word and then change to a more acceptable expression.Hughes, 7. In

rhyming slang Rhyming slang is a form of slang word construction in the English language. It is especially prevalent among Cockneys in England, and was first used in the early 19th century in the East End of London; hence its alternative name, Cockney rhymin ...

, rhyming euphemisms are often truncated so that the rhyme is eliminated; ''prick'' became ''

Hampton Wick Hampton Wick is a Thamesside area of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England, contiguous with Teddington, Kingston upon Thames and Bushy Park. Market gardening continued until well into the twentieth century. With its road and rail ...

'' and then simply ''Hampton''. Another well-known example is "

cunt "Cunt" () is a vulgar word for the vulva in its primary sense, and it is used in a variety of ways, including as a term of disparagement. "Cunt" is often used as a disparaging and obscene term for a woman in the United States, an unpleas ...

" rhyming with "

Berkeley Hunt The Berkeley Hunt is a foxhound pack based in the western region of England. Its country lies in the southern part of Gloucestershire, specifically between the cities of Gloucester and Bristol. History The Berkeley Hunt is said to have been on ...

", which was subsequently abbreviated to "berk". Alliteration can be combined with metrical equivalence, as in the pseudo-blasphemous "

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Judas Priest have also been referred to as one of the p ...

", substituted for the blasphemous use of "Jesus Christ". Minced oaths can also be formed by shortening: e.g., ''b'' for ''

'' or ''f'' for ''

''. Sometimes words borrowed from other languages become minced oaths; for example, '' poppycock'' comes from the Dutch , meaning 'soft dung'.Hughes, 16–17. The minced oath ''blank'' is an ironic reference to the dashes that are sometimes used to replace profanities in print. It goes back at least to 1854, when

Cuthbert Bede Edward Bradley (25 March 1827 – 12 December 1889) was an English clergyman and novelist. He was born in Kidderminster in Worcestershire, and educated at Durham University from which he took his pen name Cuthbert Bede. His most popular book was ...

wrote "I wouldn't give a blank for such a blank blank. I'm blank, if he doesn't look as if he'd swallowed a blank codfish." By the 1880s, it had given rise to the derived forms ''blanked'' and ''blankety'', definition 12b for ''blank'' which combined gave the name of the long-running British TV quiz show ''

Blankety Blank ''Blankety Blank'' is a British comedy game show which first aired in 1979. The show is based on the American game show ''Match Game'', with contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity panellists to fill-in-the-blank questions. The ...

''. In the same way, ''bleep'' arose from the use of a tone to mask profanities on radio.Hughes, 18–19.

History

The Cretan king

Rhadamanthus In Greek mythology, Rhadamanthus () or Rhadamanthys () was a wise king of Crete. As the son of Zeus and Europa (mythology), Europa he was considered a demigod. He later became one of the Greek underworld#Judges of the underworld, judges of the ...

is said to have forbidden his subjects to swear by the gods, suggesting that they instead swear by the ram, the goose or the

plane tree ''Platanus'' ( ) is a genus consisting of a small number of tree species native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae. All mature members of ''Platanus'' are tall, reaching in height. The type ...

Socrates Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...

favored the "Rhadamanthine" oath "by the dog", with "the dog" often interpreted as referring to the bright "Dog Star", ''i.e.'',

Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word (Latin script: ), meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbr ...

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

mentions that people used to swear by birds instead of by the gods, adding that the soothsayer Lampon still swears by the goose "whenever he's going to cheat you". Since no god was called upon, Lampon may have considered this oath safe to break.

Michael V. Fox Michael V. Fox (1940–2025) was an American-Israeli biblical scholar. He was the Halls-Bascom Professor Emeritus in the Department of Hebrew and Semitic Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Fox was described as a "highly re ...

says there are minced oaths in the Bible: the Hebrew words ''ṣᵉba’ot'' 'gazelles' and ''’aylot haśśadeh'' 'wild does' () are circumlocutions for titles of God, the first for either ''(’elohey) ṣᵉba’ot'' '(God of) Hosts' or ''(YHWH) ṣᵉba’ot'' '(Yahweh is) Armies' and the second for ''’el šadday'' '

El Shaddai El Shaddai (; ) or just Shaddai is one of the names of God in Judaism. ''El Shaddai'' is conventionally translated into English as ''God Almighty'', as ''Deus Omnipotens'' in Latin, and in . '' El'' means "God" in the Ugaritic and the Canaanite ...

'. The

New English Translation The New English Translation (NET) is a free, "completely new" English translation of the Bible, "with 60,932 translators' notes" sponsored by the Biblical Studies Foundation and published by Biblical Studies Press. History and textual basis ...

footnotes dispute this interpretation of the Hebrew. The use of minced oaths in English dates back at least to the 14th century, when "gog" and "kokk", both euphemisms for God, were in use. Other early minced oaths include "Gis" or "Jis" for Jesus (1528).Hughes, 13–15. Late

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

drama contains a profusion of minced oaths, probably due to

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

opposition to swearing. Seven new minced oaths are first recorded between 1598 and 1602, including '' 'sblood'' for "By God's blood" from

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

, '' 'slight '' for "God's light" from

Ben Jonson Benjamin Jonson ( 11 June 1572 – ) was an English playwright, poet and actor. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence on English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for the satire, satirical ...

, and '' 'snails '' for "God's nails" from the historian John Hayward. Swearing on stage was officially banned by the Act to Restrain Abuses of Players in 1606, and a general ban on swearing followed in 1623. Other examples from the 1650s included '''slid'' for "By God's eyelid" (1598), '' 'sfoot'' for "By God's foot" (1602), and ''

gadzooks Gadzooks may refer to: * ''Gadzooks!'' (TV programme), a British pop music television programme which aired on BBC2 in the 1960s * Gadzooks (retailer) Gadzooks, Inc. was a mall-based teenage clothing retailer. It was acquired by Forever 21 i ...

'' for "By God's hooks" (referring to the nails on Christ's cross). In the late 17th century, '' egad'' meant ''oh God'', and '' ods bodikins'' for "By God's bodkins

nail Nail or Nails may refer to: In biology * Nail (anatomy), toughened protective protein-keratin (known as alpha-keratin, also found in hair) at the end of an animal or human digit, such as fingernail * Nail (beak), a plate of hard horny tissue a ...

]s" in 1709. In some cases the original meanings of these minced oaths were forgotten; the oath ''wikt:struth, 'struth'' (''By God's truth'') came to be spelled ''wikt:strewth, strewth''. The oath '' Zounds'' and related ''Wounds'' changed pronunciation in the

Great Vowel Shift The Great Vowel Shift was a series of English phonology, pronunciation changes in the vowels of the English language that took place primarily between the 1400s and 1600s (the transition period from Middle English to Early Modern English), begi ...

, but the normal word ''wound'' did not (at least not in RP), so that they no longer sound like their original meaning of "By God's wounds".

Acceptability

Although minced oaths are not as strong as the expressions from which they derive, some audiences may still find them offensive. One writer in 1550 considered "idle oaths" like "by cocke" (by God), "by the cross of the mouse foot", and "by Saint Chicken" to be "most abominable blasphemy". The minced oaths "'sblood" and "zounds" were omitted from the

Folio The term "folio" () has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging Paper size, sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for ...

edition of

's play ''

Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...

'', probably as a result of

-influenced censorship. In 1941, a

United States federal judge In the United States, a federal judge is a judge who serves on a court established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. Often called "Article III judges", federal judges include the chief justice and associate justices of the U.S. S ...

threatened a lawyer with

contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the co ...

for using the word "darn". ''Zounds'' may sound amusing and archaic to the modern ear, yet as late as 1984 the columnist James J. Kilpatrick recalled that "some years ago", after using it in print, he had received complaints that it was blasphemous because of its origin as "God's wounds". (He had written an article entitled "Zounds! Is Reagan Mad?" in the ''

Spartanburg Herald The ''Spartanburg Herald-Journal'' is a daily newspaper, the primary newspaper for Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States. History The origins of the paper lie with ''The Spartan'', a weekly paper reportedly first printed in about 1842� ...

'' for 12 June 1973, and also used "zounds" in June 1970.)

Literature and censorship

It is common to find minced oaths in literature and media. Writers sometimes face the problem of portraying characters who swear and often include minced oaths instead of

profanity Profanity, also known as swearing, cursing, or cussing, is the usage of notionally word taboo, offensive words for a variety of purposes, including to demonstrate disrespect or negativity, to relieve pain, to express a strong emotion (such a ...

in their writing so that they will not offend audiences or incur

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

. One example is ''

The Naked and the Dead ''The Naked and the Dead'' is a novel written by Norman Mailer. Published by Rinehart & Company in 1948, when he was 25, it was his debut novel. It depicts the experiences of a platoon during World War II, based partially on Mailer's experienc ...

'', where publishers required author

Norman Mailer Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American writer, journalist and filmmaker. In a career spanning more than six decades, Mailer had 11 best-selling books, at least ...

to use the minced oath "fug" over his objections.

Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

referred to this problem in his novel ''

The Moon and Sixpence ''The Moon and Sixpence'' is a novel by W. Somerset Maugham, first published on 15 April 1919. It is told in episodic form by a first-person narrator providing a series of glimpses into the mind and soul of the central character, Charles Stri ...

'' (1919), in which the narrator explained that "Strickland, according to Captain Nichols, did not use exactly the words I have given, but since this book is meant for family reading, I thought it better—at the expense of truth—to put into his mouth language familiar to the domestic circle".

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

pretends a similar mincing of profanity in ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'', stating in Appendix F of the novel: "But Orcs and Trolls spoke as they would, without love of words or things; and their language was actually more degraded and filthy than I have shown it. I do not suppose that any will wish for a closer rendering, though models are easy to find."

Footnotes

Works cited