A.Word.A.Daywith Anu Garg
I had been in the US barely a week to attend graduate school. After class I was chatting with a girl. Time flew. We didn’t realize how long it had been. Then she looked at her watch and said “Oh, fudge! I have got so much homework today!” She picked up her backpack and made her way to the lecture hall exit.
When I returned to my apartment that afternoon, I was still thinking about the fudge. I knew about fudge the candy, but that sense didn’t fit here, so I did what I always did when I had a question. I called the library.
“Reference, please,” I said.
When the reference librarian came on the line, I said “Does the word fudge also mean something other than a candy?”
“How do you use it in a sentence?” she asked.
“Oh, fudge! I have got so much homework today!”
There was a pause. Then she said, “I don’t know” and hung up.* She probably thought I was a prank caller.
Eventually I figured out the euphemism by the context and by the similarity of the sounds and common initial letters.
That was some 30 years ago. Things have changed. The F-word is much more common these days. Maybe you use a minced version, such as “fudge” or maybe you prefer it in its original form**, or none of the above.
It’s a free world — you choose how you speak. That said, one should mind the company one is in.
This week we’ll see five minced oaths. Minced oaths are euphemisms: softened forms of words considered offensive in other contexts, such as words related to god, to bodily functions, and to other things considered taboo.
*Fudging that answer notwithstanding, as far as I’m concerned, you can’t pay the librarians enough for what they do and how much they help.
**The word “fυck” has been a part of the language for 500 years. The actual practice, far longer. So, no need to be embarrassed of either.
gee-whiz
PRONUNCIATION:
MEANING:
| adjective: | 1. Marked by wonder, surprise, enthusiasm, etc. |
| 2. New; impressive; exciting. | |
| interjection: | Expressing surprise, dismay, enthusiasm, annoyance, etc. |
ETYMOLOGY:
Euphemism for Jesus, with the second syllable replaced by whiz, a playful exclamation evoking surprise and wonder. Earliest documented use: 1872.