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09/20/10, 05:53 PM
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Gosh (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Gosh), golly (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/golly), and gee (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gee) casually express surprise or excitement, right? Actually, they have a more serious origin and purpose.
While this folksy (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/folksy) trio are informal interjections (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/interjections), they are also euphemistic (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/euphemistic) alterations of the word “god (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/god)” or, in the case of gee (http://dictionary.reference.com/etymology/gee), “Jesus (http://dictionary.reference.com/etymology/Jesus).” The use of gosh (http://dictionary.reference.com/etymology/gosh) predates golly (http://dictionary.reference.com/etymology/golly) by about 100 years.
Euphemisms (http://dictionary.reference.com/etymology/Euphemisms) substitute a mild or vague expression for one that is considered to be offensive or harsh. They often come into play with words concerned with religion, sex, death, and excreta (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/excreta). For example, if you wanted to employ a euphemism to say that someone died, you might say that he passed away or departed.
The derivation (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/derivation) of euphemism (http://dictionary.reference.com/etymology/Euphemisms) is the Greek root eu-, which means “good,” and pheme, which means “speaking.” During religious ceremonies, ancient Greeks superstitiously avoided euphemes. These were words or phrases that were considered sacred, such as the name of a deity like Persephone (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Persephone).
Ancient Greeks weren’t the only people to consider certain words ineffable (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ineffable). Religious Jews use the tetragrammaton (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tetragrammaton) or, tetragram (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tetragram), as a sort of euphemistic Hebrew name for God that was supposedly revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai. It consists of the four consonants Y H V H or Y H W H. It’s modern transliteration is Jehovah (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Jehovah) or Yahweh (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Yahweh).
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Gosh (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Gosh), golly (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/golly), and gee (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gee) casually express surprise or excitement, right? Actually, they have a more serious origin and purpose.
While this folksy (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/folksy) trio are informal interjections (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/interjections), they are also euphemistic (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/euphemistic) alterations of the word “god (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/god)” or, in the case of gee (http://dictionary.reference.com/etymology/gee), “Jesus (http://dictionary.reference.com/etymology/Jesus).” The use of gosh (http://dictionary.reference.com/etymology/gosh) predates golly (http://dictionary.reference.com/etymology/golly) by about 100 years.
Euphemisms (http://dictionary.reference.com/etymology/Euphemisms) substitute a mild or vague expression for one that is considered to be offensive or harsh. They often come into play with words concerned with religion, sex, death, and excreta (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/excreta). For example, if you wanted to employ a euphemism to say that someone died, you might say that he passed away or departed.
The derivation (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/derivation) of euphemism (http://dictionary.reference.com/etymology/Euphemisms) is the Greek root eu-, which means “good,” and pheme, which means “speaking.” During religious ceremonies, ancient Greeks superstitiously avoided euphemes. These were words or phrases that were considered sacred, such as the name of a deity like Persephone (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Persephone).
Ancient Greeks weren’t the only people to consider certain words ineffable (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ineffable). Religious Jews use the tetragrammaton (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tetragrammaton) or, tetragram (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tetragram), as a sort of euphemistic Hebrew name for God that was supposedly revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai. It consists of the four consonants Y H V H or Y H W H. It’s modern transliteration is Jehovah (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Jehovah) or Yahweh (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Yahweh).
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