The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1890-09-20
FACTS ABOUT OATHS
How People Swear and
Where the Cuss Words
Came From.

"You need not have looked
severe because ] sal that did
not care u dam," said Il gruff old
senator IN conversation with the
Sunday school reporter of the
Washington Star.
"That is not swearing. The cX-
preston has very different mean.
ing from what is populary snppos.
ed, and was originated by the duke
of Wellington. a dam in India il
the smallest piece of money known
aud not tn care that much means
simply that one is very Indifferent.
That was all the phrase was in
tended to signify. The word DAM
from the Latin verb meaning 'to
condemn is II very different thing.
Curiously enough, 1t seems almost
invariably to be the frst word in our
lanaunge 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 sGoddnms.'
a distinguished Gallic writer of
that epoch said that English was a
beautiful tongue and that God
dam was the basis of it. People
of that nation,' he remarked, 'have
u few other words which they use
in conversation, hut the principal
one is Goddam. You can 90 any
where in England if You know
that
"A funny misapprehension also
exists as to the expression. Go
to the deuce People generally
suppose that deuce means 'devil,'
whereas, as matter of fact, it is
derived directly from the Latin
'Deus'-God. So, when one tells
you to go to the deuce he is uncon-
sciously uttering the best of good
wishes for your welfare.
"Speaking of Latin reminds me
that among the ancient Romans it
was considered 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 demigods, like Hercules and
Castor and Pollux, were also made
use of in the way of oaths. Castor
and PolluX We're usually appealed
to as the 'Twins'-'By Geminiw-
phrase whence we get our eXclam-
alton '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 Venus. In mo-
ments of great aggravation they
might go so far as TO cry 'Mecastor!
-'By Castorp 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 lover is being intensely
affectiOnate when he calls the lady
of his heart his petite chou or
little cnbbage.' by jingo' is from
'Jincoa,' the Basque name for God.
Barbarous tribes have been ac-
custOmed to swear by the head of
their ruler. Queen Elizabeth is
said to have been IL very hard
swearer' rs ladies were very apt to
be in her day. Louis TX of France
forbade the use by his courtiers of
such oaths as 'Pardieu,' 'COrdieu,'
fTetcdieu' and SO on. There CHANGED
to belong to one Of the ladies of the
court a small pet dog named 'Bleu.,
The courtiers made up their minds
to swear by the dog instead Of the
deity, and hence came the Par-
bleus' and 'Corbleus' of later times.
Pythagoras had q fayorite oath
which most people would consider
not sufficiently forcible 60 be salts
factory. He swore hy the number
four, which the Greeks regarded az
symbolizipg perfection"