ye gods

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English

Etymology

Seventeenth-century British variant of oh my God, probably intended to avoid blasphemy[1][2]. Compare Danish I guder.

Pronunciation

  • Audio (AU)(file)

Interjection

ye gods

  1. (idiomatic, dated, euphemistic) "You gods!" Used to express surprise or incredulity.
    • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick (Chapter 2)
      Would he not far rather lay him down lengthwise along the line of the equator; yea, ye gods! go down to the fiery pit itself, in order to keep out this frost?

Derived terms

References

  1. ^ "Ye gods and little fishes!" (World Wide Words)
  2. ^ "Gosh, we can't leave God alone when we speak" (The Electric New Paper News)

Anagrams

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