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The Conversation USA

Zounds! What the fork are minced oaths? And why are we still fecking using them today?

  • Written by Kirk Hazen, Professor of Linguistics, West Virginia University
imageUsing minced oaths became a habit in NBC's The Good PlaceYouTube/NBC

What in tarnation is “tarnation?” Why do people in old books exclaim “zounds!” in moments of surprise? And what could a professor of linguistics possibly have against “duck-loving crickets?”

I’ll get to the crickets later. But what unites...

Read more: Zounds! What the fork are minced oaths? And why are we still fecking using them today?

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