Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1890-09-13
QUEER FACTS ABOUT OATns.
How People Swear and Where the Cusa
Words Came From.

How People Swear and Where the Cuss
Words Came From.
"You need not have looked severe be-
cause | said that didn't care a dam,"
said grutf old Senator in Washington.
THAT is not swearing. The expression
has a very different meaning from what
is popularly supposed, and was origi-
mated by the Duke of Wellington. A dam
in India is the smallest piece of money
known, and not to care that much means
simply that one is very Indifferent. That
was all the phrase was intended to sig
Nifty. The word damn, from the Latin
verb meaning to condemn is a very diff
ferent thing. Curiously enough, itseems
almost invariably to be the first word in
our language acquired by foreigners, and
it has always been such a favorite with
the English that in the last century
the French always referred to them
as the 'Goddams' A distinguished
Gallic writer of that epoch said that
English was beautiful tongue and thlt
'Goddam' was the basis of it. People
of that nation he remarked, have
Jew other words which they use in con-
versation, but the principal one is God
dam. You can go any where in Eng
land if you know that
"A funny misapprehnnsion also exists
as to the expression. Go to the deuce
People generally suppose t'iat deuce
means devil whereas as matter of
fact it is derived directly from the Latin
Deus - God SO, when any one tells
you to so to the deuce he is unconsciously
uttering the best of good wishes for your
welfare.
"Speaking of Latin reminds me that
among the ancient Romans it was con-
sdered the thing for each man to have
some particular god to habitually swear
by. Some swore by Jupiter, others by
Mars, others still by Minerva, and so on.
The demi-gods, like Hercules and Castor
and PolluX, We're also made use of in the
way of oaths Castor and Pollux We're
usually appealed to as the Twins by
Gemini!'-the phrase whence we get our
exclamation BY Jimmy 1t was
thought very improper for Roman ladies
to swear by the male gods, but they were
permitted to take the names of the Twins
in vain, and also especially that of We
nus. In moments of great aggravation
they might go SO far as to cry Mecas-
tor!-'By Castorn The Greeks swore by
the cabbage, which was the most priced
of vegetables, and even to this day the
same oath is often heard in Italy, while
in France a lover is being intensely af
fectionate when he calls the lady of his
heart his petit chou or little cabbage
by jingo' is from Jincoa, the Basque
name for God. Barbarous tribes have
been accustomed to swear by the head
of their ruler. Queen Elizabeth is said
to have been a very hard swearer, as
ladies We're very apt to be in her day.
Louis TX of France forbade the use by
his courtiers of such oaths as Pardieu,'
'Cordieu, 'Tetedieu, and so on. There
CHANGED to belong to one of the ladies of
the court small dog named Bleu.' The
courtiers made up their minds to swear
by the dog instead of by the Deity, and
hence came the parbleus and corbleus of
later times. Pythagoras had 'avorite
oath which most people would consider
not sufficiently forcible to be satisfactory.
He swore by the number four, which
the Greeks regarded as symbolizing per-
fection."