9 Comments

  1. @1 Jimmy – says the guy who *likes* walnuts! ๐Ÿ™‚

    Basically, I asterisk Da**Cat because the judge preceding me, Keln, also did so, and it’s his blog. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Personally, I think swearing and walnuts have a lot in common. They are both vile, both bitter, and both draw undue attention to themselves. Because of that, I don’t choose to use either.

  2. @3: See here, young lady: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Damn?s=t

    Most of the uses – and history – don’t relate to “swearing.” Reluctance to use it in modern contexts is very old fashioned, as they explain:

    Word Origin and History for damn: v.

    late 13c., “to condemn,” from Old French damner “damn, condemn; convict, blame; injure,” derivative of Latin damnare “to adjudge guilty; to doom; to condemn, blame, reject,” from noun damnum “damage, hurt, harm; loss, injury; a fine, penalty,” possibly from an ancient religious term from PIE *dap- “to apportion in exchange” [see Watkins]. The Latin word evolved a legal meaning of “pronounce judgment upon.” Theological sense is first recorded early 14c.; the optative expletive use likely is as old.

    Damn and its derivatives generally were avoided in print from 18c. to c.1930s (the famous line in the film version of “Gone with the Wind” was a breakthrough and required much effort by the studio). The noun is recorded from 1610s; to be not worth a damn is from 1817. The adjective is 1775, short for damned ; Damn Yankee, characteristic Southern U.S. term for “Northerner,” is attested from 1812. Related: Damning. – Dictionary.com

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