ods n.
a mild euph. for God’s, used in comb. in various excl. oaths; the major ones being listed below (cf. ads n.).
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Case Is Altered I i: Od’slid, man, service is ready to go up. [Ibid.] III i: Rachel! odslight, come to me. | |
| Every Man Out of his Humour II i: Ods ’slid, an I could compass it. | |
| Woman is a Weathercock III iii: Od’s will, have you nobody to put your gulls upon but knights? | |
| Bartholomew Fair IV v: Od’s foot, you bawd in grease, are you talking? | |
| Widdow II ii: ’Odds light is he come too? | |
| Laughing Mercury 22-29 Sept. 197: ’Zudsfutt, quoth Dick. | |
| (trans.) Gargantua and Pantagruel (1927) II Bk V 554: Odd’s belly, it is not in my nature to lie idle. | |
| She Would and She Would Not V i: If she does not give me a hearty Smack too, Odds-Winds and Thunder, she is not the good-humour’d Girl I take her for. | |
| Wonder! I i: Ods, if I had you alone, housewife, I’d show you how fond I could be. | |
| Artifice Act III: Odsave me! | |
| Provoked Husband I i: Ods wookers! [...] Ods Guts and Gizards, Madam! | |
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | ‘Political Balance’ in Prescott & Sanders Intro. to Amer. Poetry (1932) 83: Old Vulcan replied ‘Odds splutter a nails!’. | |
| , , | | Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Odd’s plut and her nails, a Welch oath. |
![[Ire]](/static/img/flags/ire.png "Ireland") | Spanish Rivals I ii: Married!— Odd’s wucks and tar! no, no. | |
| ‘Farewell Odes’ Works (1794) I 163: ‘Ods curse it!’ cried the other, ‘’tis no joke.’. | |
| Honest Fellow 92: Odds lickens, there are eyes as black as any foot, cheeks as red as hung beef, and bubbies as plump and zoft as good vat bacon. | |
| Willy Wood & Greedy Grizzle 22: ‘Odsheft! We all know Skipper Clark’. | |
| Speed the Plough I i: Odds dickens and daizeys! | |
| ‘Friend Hodge’ in Poems II 135: All breathless with haste, to the ’Squire did Hodge run , / ‘Ods-bud, plaize yor Worshep, chill zhow ye zuch vun’. | |
| ‘Nichol the Newsmonger’ Cumberland Ballads (1805) 6: Odswinge, lad, there will be rare drinking! | |
| Lex. Balatronicum [as cit. 1785]. | |
| Jr. (ed.) Rhymes of Northern Bards 26: Odds marcy! Wye, marrows, becrike it’s Lord ’Size. | |
| Jr. (ed.) Rhymes of Northern Bards 32: Odds heft! my pit claes [i.e. clothes] [...] Are waurse o’ wear. | |
| [ | | ‘Splutter Hur Nails! Heigho!’ in Vocal Mag. 1 June 178: Shenkin-ap-Morgan fell in love, / Splutter hur nails! heigho!]. |
| ‘Roger of Taunton Dean’ Goldfinch Song Bk 11: Odsucks says he, I’ve a sack o’ wheat. | |
| Spring and Autumn II i: Such noises! odds dickens! such uproars! | |
| Navy at Home II 130: Odds fidikins! [...] This is rascally! | |
| Ely’s Hawk & Buzzard (NY) Sept. 1 n.p.: [chorus] Od Zooks &c. | |
| Kerry Eve. Post 21 Mar. 4/2: ‘Odds, flints and triggers! What will the world come to?’. | |
| Comic Almanack May 54: And then, odds wigs! / How very great he felt! | |
| Rambling Recollections of a Soldier of Fortune 222: Odds wrinkles! here was a confession! | |
| Our Village I i: So if you’re for cutting of capers, / Odds hang it, ma’am, cut ’em with me! | |
| Sixteen-String Jack 261: Odd’s daisy, mun. | |
| Orleans Indep. Standard (Irasbrugh, VT) 24 July 1: ‘Odds splutterface!’ he said. | |
| Society as I Have Foundered It 39: Odds daggers and blades! | |
| Punch 13 June 288: Odsfakins! a stately procession, which ought to have been set in the centre of an admiring multitude. | |
 | Leeds Dly Call (SD) 13 Dec. 7/1: Ods daggers! there was sport for him. | |
| Mop Fair 56: And your phrases! odds [...] your phrases! | |
| Comic Life 13 Feb. 1: Odds, cough-drops! You’ve done something now boys! |
In exclamations
a general oath, lit. ‘God’s body!’ and vars.
| Wild-Goose-Chase I iii: Od’s-bobs, yu are angry, Lady. | |
| Laughing Mercury 22-29 Sept. 197: Guds bobs (quoth Dick). | |
| ‘To the Tune of Beginning of the World’ Wit Restor’d (1817) 291: Ods, bodikins nay fy away, I prethee son do not so. | |
| Sir Martin Mar-all IV i: Ods Bobs this is very pretty. [...] Bodikins I like not that so well. | |
| Lucky Chance I iii: Odsbobs, sweetheart, thy health. | |
| Love for Love II i: Odsbud, I would my son were an Egyptian mummy for thy sake. | |
| Lost Lover I i: Ods-bobs thou wilt not do that, I hope. | |
| Gamester Act V: Odsbud, sir, go to Angelica, this minute. | |
| Tatler No. 33 n.p.: He may run into Passion, and cry, Odsbodikins, you do not say right. | |
| Homer in a nut-shell 8: But out he drew his Ponyard quickly, / Thought he, Odsbodlikins I’ll tickle ye. | |
| Refusal 43: Odsbodlikins, Mr. Frankly, you are an ingenious Gentleman. | |
| Devil to Pay II i: Odsbobs! what a Clap was there! it shook up the very House. | |
| Don Quixote II viii: Odsbodlikins! Mrs. Dorothea, you have a very strange Sort of a Taste, I can tell you that. | |
| Roderick Random (1979) 13: Odds bob! I’d desire no better news. [Ibid.] 343: Odds bobs! I wish you would hold discourse with her. | |
| (trans.) Adventures of Gil Blas I 72: ‘Odsbodikins!’ cried he. | |
| Upholsterer I ii: S’bodikins! | |
| Midas I iv: Odsbobs – I’ll force her. | |
| Farmer 17: Just as your Country Folks [swear] ‘Odibodikins’. | |
| York Dialogue Between Ned and Harry 21: Odds bud, a third will say. | |
| Willy Wood & Greedy Grizzle 11: ‘Odsbobs!’ cry’d Willy — ‘why the deuce / Give me sic scandal and abuse!’. | |
| Heir at Law I i: Odsbobs, my lady! | |
| Village Fete 22: Odds, – bobs – how fresh and nice you look to-day! | |
| Yankey in England 86: I’ll knock him down, flat as a flounder! Odds bodikins! | |
![[Scot]](/static/img/flags/sco.png "Scotland") | Life and Trial of James Mackcoull 11: ‘Odd’s bodikins!’ cried Drake, ‘Here’s the old raven I told you of.’. | |
| Scots Mag. 1 Nov. 100/2: Such a one as he — odsbobs, Sir! | |
| Down-Easters I 197: I’ll – odds bobbs! I’ll beat you to death. | |
| (con. 1737–9) Rookwood (1857) 60: Odsbodikins! [...] a noble reward! | |
| Snarleyyow I 105: Odds bobs, hammer and tongs, as long as I’m at sea. | |
| (con. 1715) Jack Sheppard (1917) 88: ‘Odd’s boddikins!’ cried Jack. | |
| ‘Lay of St. Cuthbert’ Ingoldsby Legends (1842) 235: And as for the shocking bad habit of swearing [...] Eschew it! – and leave it to dust-men and mobs, / Nor commit yourself much beyond ‘Zooks!’ or ‘Odsbobs!’. | |
| Hereford Jrnl 5 June 4/1: Though ‘Od,’ thus writ, pronounced maybe, / ‘Odsbobs’ a genuine oddity! | |
| (con. 15C) Cloister and Hearth (1864) I 276: Ods bodikins! what, have you dug him up. | |
| Pall Mall Gaz. 7 June 11/1: ‘Oddsbobs!’ cries Jerry [...] ‘there is a fine plum-pudding’. | |
| in Living London (1883) Apr. 122: I dread, ere long, the onslaughts of questioners concerning the origin of [...] ‘ods-bobs’. | |
| Lichfield Mercury 14 Dec. 6/3: Is he going to join those lispers now? Marry, go to! Ods bodkins! I’fackins and the rest — he cannot. | |
| Blawearie 85: ‘Ods bods,’ ejaculated Will Hood, ‘here comes that great grumpus crying like a wane.’. | |
| Music Hall & Theatre Rev. 15 Feb. 5/1: Odds bodkins! likewise gadsooks! How the time does fly along. | |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Bulletin (Sydney) 10 Nov. 32/3: His wife said, ‘Grammercy, my lord! How fare ye?’ as if he were a tram-conductor instead of being merely a temporary arsenal, and he replied, ‘Odds bodikins,’ or words to that effect. | |
| Wind in the Willows (1995) 136: ‘Oddsbodikins!’ said the sergeant of police. | |
| Bulletin (Sydney) 8 Dec. 14/4: He has great gobs of humor, i’ faith, and also oddsbodikins, in his mental and moral make-up. | |
| Yorks. Eve. Post 16 Feb. 4/1: Gadzooks! Odds Bodikins! [...] Straight as a falcon [...] flies Panshine after every speck of rust and tarnish. | |
| ‘Miscellaneous Notes’ in AS III:3 259: Such terms as ‘gadzooks,’ ‘zounds,’ ‘marry come up,’ and ‘Odd’s bodikins,’ were slang. | |
| Right Ho, Jeeves 143: I had always thought it was just a thing you read in books. Like ‘Quotha!’ I mean to say, or ‘Odds bodikins!’. |
a general oath, lit. ‘God’s blood!’.
| ‘The New-Market Song’ in Roxburghe Ballads (1885) V:1 144: ‘Ods but!’ cries my Country-man John, ‘was ever the like before seen?’. | |
| Woman’s Wit I i: Odsbud, I lose time, I must ferret the Dog. | |
| in Pills to Purge Melancholy IV 332: Ods Bud you’d do rarely well. | |
| Provoked Husband I i: Ods-bud! Master, you’re a wise Mon. | |
| Sarah-Ad 14: H--de and Mary swore od’s Blood! / They’d make her do’t; ay they would. | |
| Spirit of Irish Wit 127: ‘Odds blood, my good friend,’ answered the Hibernian. | |
| Sixteen-String Jack 125: Crissy odsbuds, I’ll on with my duds . | |
| Sailor’s Word-Bk (1991) 181: Cheating the Devil. [...] hard swearing as od’s blood. | |
| ‘The Cock & The Bull’ Works (1901) 111: I flopp’d forth, ’sbuddikins! on my own ten toes. | |
![[Can]](/static/img/flags/can.png "Canada") | ‘The Dreamer’ Rhymes of a Rolling Stone 144: Od’s blood! but he was tired. | |
| ‘Miscellaneous Notes’ in AS III:3 259: Such terms as ‘gadzooks,’ ‘zounds,’ ‘marry come up,’ and ‘Odd’s bodikins,’ were slang. |
a general oath, one of many ways of euphemizing God.
| Soldier’s Fortune I i: Odd’s fish, I have a peep-hole for thee. | |
| Womans Wit IV i: Don’t it make your Nose tingle! Odsfish! he is gone away with my Mother too! | |
| Bickerstaff’s Burying Act I: Odsfish! do you think I’d leave a first Rate for a Frigate; forsake a fine Lady for a Nell? | |
| Roderick Random (1979) 13: Odd’s fish! now my dream is out for all the world. | |
| Midas I iv: Odsfish! th’old Trot is, more than usual, testy. | |
| ‘The Lousiad’ Works (1794) I 302: Who knows the varmine is n’t your own, odsfish! | |
| Sporting Mag. Dec. VII 166/1: ‘Ods fish,’ cries the king, ‘has old Hyde serv’d thee so?’. | |
| All at Coventry I i: Landlord! Waiter! Boots! oddsfish / You Job himself would vex. | |
| Woodstock IV iii: Oddsfish, this must not be. | |
| ‘Epigram’ Bentley’s Misc. May 508: But if the tale be true, odsfish! / Fanny has never tried the dish. | |
| Maid with the Milking Pail n.p.: Lord P. Ods fish, why this interest in poor Lady Lucy? [F&H]. | |
| Adventures of Mr Verdant Green (1982) I 2: Vavasour Verdant Green [...] allowed that monarch in his merriness to borrow his purse, with the simple IOU of ‘Odd’s fish! you shall take mine to-morrow!’. | |
| Examiner 14 Dec. 4/3: His constant ejaculations of ‘Ods fish’. | |
| Eve. Teleg. (Dundee) 11 Mar. 4/1: The Earl; of Rochester is said to have exclaimed, ‘Ods fish, Lory, your chaplain must be a bishop’. | |
| Lloyd`s Wkly Newspaper 31 May 11/4: If this is like me, Riley, then ods fish! I am an ugly fellow. | |
| Gadfly (Adelaide, NZ) 12 Dec. 847/1: Odds fish, [...] it is not ye fatted calfe, but ye olde castle itself which burneth. | |
| Bulletin (Sydney) 21 July 10/1: Odds fish! These fellows hitherto / Wore no demeanor critical; / But, cap in hand, have saught my view / On all affairs political. |
a mild euph. excl., lit. ‘God’s flesh!’.
| Squire of Alsatia I i: Ods-flesh, where is the money for aw this? | |
| Beau’s Duel IV i: Odsflesh, had I been there, this had not happened. | |
| Provoked Husband V i: Ods-flesh! Cousin, what! and leave a thousand Pounds a Year behind me? | |
| Lame Lover in Works (1799) II 60: Odds flesh, she’s a delicate wench! | |
| Heir at Law II ii: Ods flesh! — gi’ us your fist, Dick! | |
| Village Fete 12: Odds Flesh, why does the wench so follow me. | |
| Leeeds Mercury 12 Dec. 7/2: ’Ods flesh, George Ash, come no more to Beeston. |
a general oath, lit. ‘God’s heart!’.
| Sir Barnaby Whigg n.p.: Od’s heart here’s luck now. | |
| Way of the World IV ii: Odds heart, where’s Tony? | |
| Wonder! III iii: Was ever man thus plagued? Odsheart, I could swallow my dagger for madness. | |
| Peregrine Pickle (1964) 156: A sufficient man! Odds heart! [Ibid.] 360: Odds heartlikins! had I known the young woman was Ned Gauntlet’s daughter, I shou’dn’t have thrown out signal for leaving off chace. | |
| Upholsterer II iii: Odsheart Man be of good chear. | |
| John Bull III ii: Ods, my little heart! |
a general oath, lit. ‘God’s life!’.
| Cynthia’s Revels IV i: Ods my life, how he does all to be-qualify her! | |
| Jovial Crew IV i: Ods my life! | |
| Cutter of Coleman-street (1721) 755: Mine! Od’s my Life! here she is already! | |
| Soldier’s Fortune I i: Odd’s life! I’ll say no more. | |
| Beaux’ Strategem I i: Ods my life, sir, we’ll drink her health. | |
| Wife of Bath I i: Ods-my-life, a downright Miracle of a Hand. | |
| Wonder! II i: Balls, Madam! Odslife, I ask your pardon, Madam! | |
| Humours of Oxford IV i: Od’s my Life! ’tis impossible to have too much of a good Thing. | |
| Roderick Random (1979) 140: Know lieutenant Bowling (said he) – odd’s my life! and that I do. | |
| Hist. of the Two Orphans II 151: Ods my life, Sir, continued he. | |
| Rivals (1776) I i: Hey! – Odd’s life! – Mr. Fag! | |
| Evelina (1861) 454: Odds my life, cried the Captain, I wish I’d been near you! | |
| Hamlet Travestie II ii: Od’s life, D’ye think I’m easier play’d on than a fife? | |
| City Looking Glass III i: Odds my life! I think he has been guzzling porter. | |
| (con. 1715) Jack Sheppard (1917) 84: Odds-my-life! what’s this? | |
| ‘Kind-Hearted Man’ Dublin Comic Songster 77: Making free with my spousey – odds life! | |
| Newcastle Courant 23 June 6/4: That economical gentleman was sighing over what he deemed a sinful waste of money, and saying to himself, ‘Ods my life, who could imagine such a thing’. | |
| Sheffield Gloss. 162: Ods My Life, an oath. | |
| Bucks Herald 23 Dec. 7/6: Ods my life. I think she means to tangle my eyes too. |
a general oath.
| Ordinary II iv: ’Odsnigs I guess’d so. | |
| (trans.) Adventures of Gil Blas I 85: Odd’s niggers! this smells strong of intrigue. | |
| Peregrine Pickle (1964) 7: Odd’s niggers! there is the commodore with his company, as sure as I live! | |
![[WI]](/static/img/flags/wi.png "West Indies") | Revenge I vi: Odsniggers, t’other draught, ’tis dev’lish heady. | |
| More Lyric Odes to the Royal Academicians V 14: Odsniggers! how scarlet dyers, And gaping dames from Crutched Fryers, Slabber your tawdry misses. | |
| Sporting Mag. Jan. XXIII 228/1: Odsniggers! I do love thee. |
a mild euph. excl., lit. ‘God’s oath!’.
| Case Is Altered I i: Od’s so, hear, man! a pox on you! | |
| Every Man Out of his Humour IV iv: Ods so, look here, man. | |
| Cynthia’s Revels IV i: Ods so, was this the design you travail’d with? | |
| Staple of News I i: Ods so, some ale and sugar for my founder! | |
| Damoiselle IV ii: Ods so, / There’ll be a show indeed. | |
| Rump I i: Oddso they are here, I cry Mum—. | |
| Soldier’s Fortune I i: Odds so, odds so, well remembered! | |
| Love for Love II i: Odso, let me see; Let me see the Paper. | |
| Rival Fools I i: Odso! here comes my Father. | |
| Wonder! II i: Odso, Madam, I ask your pardon, is it to me, or to the ring, you direct your discourse, Madam? | |
| Polite Conversation 12: Ods so, I have cut my Thumb with this cursed Knife. | |
| High Life Below Stairs I ii: Odso, here is Mr. Freeman, my Master’s intimate Friend; he is a dry one. | |
| The Commissary 16: Odso! a qualification for a canon of Strasbourg. | |
| Rivals (1776) II i: Od’so! she and your father can be but just arrived before me. | |
| Spanish Rivals II i: Od zaws! I div’n’t ken. | |
| Prize I i: Odso! ask pardon, sir. | |
| Blue Devils 33: Odso! here’s the bailiff. | |
| All at Coventry I i: But odso, here he comes! | |
| Golden Calf II i: Od’s-so! ’tis just one. |
a general oath, lit. ‘God’s pity!’.
| Case Is Altered III i: Od’s pity, here’s another. | |
| Cymbeline IV ii: ’Ods pittikins! can it be six mile yet? | |
| Damoiselle I ii: Ods pity! | |
| The damoiselle n.p.: Ods pitty, give me leave. |
a general oath, lit. ‘God’s precious (life)!’.
| Every Man Out of his Humour I i: Od’s precious, come away, man . | |
| Alchemist I i: Dorothy, mistress Dorothy, ’Ods precious, I’ll do anything. | |
| Women Pleased II vi: There is no pittying of ye, od’s precious, Mistris. | |
| City Wit IV ii: Ods my precious —. | |
| The wrangling lovers 34: Ods precious, did I not promise you [...] that if he withdrew his pretentations to my Daughter, I wou’d next approve of yours. | |
| Busy Body Act V: Ods precious, I am happier than the Great Mogul. |
a general oath, lit. ‘God’s hooks!’.
| The Rampant alderman 13: A plaguey cunning Quean, ’odzooks, I was never so Nonplus’d in my Life. | |
| Love for Love V i : Odzooks, I’m a young man. | |
| Massaniello 28: It shall be done, my Lord: —Odzookers, he has it, now the Medaera works. | |
| She Would and She Would Not III i: Odzooks, he has the Courage of a Cock. | |
| Provoked Husband I i: Odszooks! [...] Ods Guts and Gizards, Madam. | |
| Witchcraft of Love 30: Who comes here tho’, Odzooks, ’tis they. | |
| Tom Jones (1959) 405: Odsooks! should I not be a blockhead to lend my money to I know not who. [Ibid.] 618: Odzookers! neighbour Allworthy, you dont know what it is to govern a daughter. | |
| Oxford Jrnl 9 Feb. 3/2: Odzooks, cries a Wag, Master Haines is not right. | |
| Gentleman’s Bottle-Companion 2: And when the little mouse crept out, / Od’zooks it caus’d a woundy laughter. | |
| Leeds Intelligencer 15 Aug. 3/1: Odzookers, in every station / They all Politicians would be. | |
| Burlesque Homer (3rd edn) 29: Each to the other cries, Odzooks! | |
| et al. ‘Knowing Joe’ Festival of Anacreon (1810) 51: But, odzookers! they were all so drollish. | |
| Morn. Post (London) 25 Nov. 1/3: Quoth Jobson, while drinking his nappy with glea, / We’ve a son, Nell, odzooks, let’s send him to sea. | |
| Hants Chron. 6 Feb. 2/5: Odzooks! [...] why sure you know / The Prophet Samuel can’t oppose the Gospel of St John. | |
| ‘Knowing Joe’ in Vocal Mag. 1 Feb. 68: Odzookers, they all were so drollish. | |
| ‘Tylney Hall’ Works (1862) III 247: ‘Odd zookers!’ cried Bob. | |
| ‘The Stunning Meat Pie’ Comic Songs 7: They finished the filling up, odd’zooks / With a ton of Kidney Taters. | |
| Regiment 27 June 199/3: Perchance he has gone unto Pluto, / Where it’s not wet but hotte. / Odzooks he must have — . |
a general oath, lit. ‘God’s wounds!’.
| Merry Wives of Windsor IV i: They say, ‘Od’s nouns’. | |
| ‘The West-Countryman’s Song on a Wedding’ in Merry Songs and Ballads (1897) III 57: Od’s hartly wounds, I’ze not to Plowing, not I Sir. | |
| ‘Song’ in Pills to Purge Melancholy I 88: Odszounds, was ever such Fortune? | |
| ‘The West-Countryman’s Song on a Wedding’ in Pills to Purge Melancholy I 295: Ods hartly wounds, Ize not to plowing, not I, Sir. | |
| in Pills to Purge Melancholy I 127: Oh Mary, she swore, Odswoons y’re a Whore. [Ibid.] I 333: Odszounds, was ever such Fortune. | |
| Progress of a Rake 19: Ods Wounds, said Dick, Blood where’s your manners. | |
| Man of the World Act II: Odzucks, Charles, you shou’d administer a torrent of adu’ation to her. [Ibid.] Act IV: Odds wounds and deeth, Plausible—ye are cleever—deevilish cleever. | |
| Caledonian Mercury 31 Dec. 3/3: Odds zounds! Ma’am where are you going? Don’t you perceive this is the male coach? It carries nobody but Gentlemen. | |
| ‘What thof I be a Country Clown’ in Collection of Songs I 223: As for doctors and their pill, / Odds wounds I can’t endure them. | |
| ‘The Young King of Rome’ in II (1979) 196: ‘Odd zounds,’ cries the Empress the fault is with you. | |
| All at Coventry II iii: I must brazen it out; I must decline now, odds nouns, though I have never declined a noun in my life. | |
| ‘Father and I’ in (1979) II 69: ‘Odds wounds!’ cried out father. | |
| ‘Laundress & Her Ass’ in Rambler’s Flash Songster 5: Said his worship, odd zounds, ’twill cost him some pounds. | |
| Ralph Skirlaugh 275: Od zounds, Howell, we’ve caught him. He’s in the kitchen now! | |
| Norfolk Chron. 26 Mar. 2/2: Odds Zounds [...] What’s here? |