Question: where did the saying great scott come from

title: Great Scott
text: The phrase has the ring of being somewhat `` dated , '' suggestive of the nineteenth century or generally an old - fashioned minced oath . Twentieth - century publications frequently use it to suggest such a context , as , for example , in the Rathbone -- Bruce Sherlock Holmes films ( said by Dr. Watson ) , Silver Age comics ( especially Superman ) , the television series Dennis the Menace ( said by Mr. Wilson ) , The Rocky Horror Picture Show , The Lion , the Witch , and the Wardrobe ( end of chapter six ) , and the Back to the Future films ( Dr. Emmett Brown ) . It was also said in A Christmas Story as Ralphie is in line to see Santa Claus , and in the episode `` When The Rat 's Away , The Mice Will Play '' from the Batman TV show , said by Adam West ( Batman ) . Scrooge McDuck uses it in DuckTales Remastered . It is also used in `` The Laughing Fish '' , an episode of Batman : The Animated Series , by a one - time character voiced by George Dzundza when The Joker enters his office . The Joker , voiced by Mark Hamill , quips , `` Actually I 'm Irish . ''