Gordon Bennett
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
There are two possible etymologies: 1. From Lieutenant-General Henry Gordon Bennett who abandoned his command and fled to safety during the Japanese invasion of Singapore leaving his unfortunate troops behind to be captured. 2. From the famous American newspaperman James Gordon Bennett, Jr., a New York newspaper proprietor and playboy during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who became widely known for his extravagant lifestyle and shocking behaviour.
The second explanation is more likely as the first time the expression appears in print was in 1937, in James Curtis's novel, You’re in the Racket, Too.[1] Exactly why the phrase fell out of use until its resurgence in the United Kingdom in the latter part of the twentieth century is unclear.
More likely still, the name was appropriated simply to disguise the blasphemy of the exclamation "God" (frequently pronounced "gawd"), much as "Cripes" and other similar words were used instead of "Christ". Indeed "God and Saint Bennet Preserve us" was a cry of dismay in medieval times. Saint Bennet already being a contraction of Saint Benedict. From this it is a small step to "God and Bennet" contracting to "Gawd an' Bennet".
[edit] Interjection
[edit] References
- The Chambers Dictionary, ISBN 0-550-10255-8
- Cassell's Dictionary of Word & Phrase Origins
