gosh n.
a euph. for God; usu. in adj. compounds or excls.; see also below; cit. 1954 is a v. use meaning to say ‘gosh’.
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Five Thousand an Hour Ch. xxii: ‘Glimmering gosh, Colonel!’ protested Val, as he hurried to pick up Gresham. | |
| Adventures of a Boomer Op. 9: Honest to gosh, a Carnegie Library would sound like a boiler shop, compared to that town. | |
 | Laker Co. Times (Hammond, IN) 27 Mar. 4/4: ‘I haven’t seen a gold watch in gosh knows when’. | |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Aus. Vulgarisms [t/s] 6: God: gad, egad, cor, gawd, gosh, golly, gawblimey, gawstruth, good god, good grief, by ghost, goldarn it, for gorsake, for goshsake, my goodness, by gum. | |
| ‘Dead Don’t Dream’ in Hollywood Detective July 🌐 And may Gosh help you if you refuse me that promised thousand hermans. | |
| (con. 1910s) Heed the Thunder (1994) 103: He wished to gosh that someone would get murdered or something. | |
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit 50: I goshed. It had startled me not a little. | |
| Guardian Guide 20–26 Nov. 36: Describing [...] their latest double bill as ‘two new gosh-outs’ offering ‘weird hyper dance’. | |
| OG Dad 128: Thank gosh, there’s plenty of local splendor to get worked up over, too. |
In compounds
see separate entry.
(US) a euph. used in excls. and mild oaths, lit. god-damned adj.
| The ‘Put Me in My Little Bed’ Joker 5: I’ll be gosh blamed if you ain’t done enough for your country. | |
| Ballou’s Mthly 57 542/1: I a’n’t laughin’ at you, Miss Crimple; but it does seem too gosh-blamed ridickerlus fer ennything! | |
| !Manchester Courier 16 June 10/2: Got to pay for it if it burns after midnight, have I? Not by a gosh-blamed sight! | |
| Shields Dly Gaz. 2 Mar. 3/9: You want to keep mighty civil. Gosh-blamed shirk. | |
| Eve. Star (Wash., DC) 3 Sept. 55/3: Quit it ye pesky imp or I’ll tan yere gosh-dinged hide fer ye. | |
| Smoke Bellew Pt 10 🌐 He’s a good actor – a gosh-blamed good actor. | |
| New York Day by Day 11 Apr. [synd. col.] Springtime when the greatest shows on the whole goshdinged earth come to town. | |
| C. Potts 164: Well, I’ll be gosh-damned! ’scuse me, Mrs. Potter, but I never saw Neal Carver act that-a-way in all my life! | |
| in Hinterland I n.p.: ‘I’ll be a gosh damned son of a bitch,’ he screamed. | |
| Cool Customer 6: Struts like a goshdinged li’l bantam. | |
| in Harvest of My Years 80: But think of the days I can’t write a gosh-damned word! | |
| Atlantic Monthly VICC 52/1: Gram would say, ‘The mountains are putting on their winter underwear,’ and shake her head and talk about the gosh-damned wind. | |
| in Thurber 102: They dont talk yet, but I’m so gosh damned sure they will. | |
| Firestarter (1981) 158: Gosh-damn people coming on my land with guns. Gosh-damn bastards. | |
| Dreamcatcher 413: It’s just so gosh-damn hot. |
see separate entries.
(US) a euph. for god-damn v.; also as adj. and exc.
| Railroad Telegrapher 16 792: I’ll be ‘gosh-dasted,’ as our friend Jim Parker says, if l can stand the street cars . | |
| Bee (Earlington, KY) 12 Nov. 4/4: ‘I’ve got you gosh-dasted tramps at last,’ said the farmer. | |
| Eve. World (NY) 3 June 18/3: Tell him that this gosh-dasted foolishness has got to stop. | |
| Kentucky Irish American (Louisville, KY) 14 Aug. 1/2: Now they are being made monkeys of every day by a lot of ‘goshdasted’ crooks. |
(US) a euph. for god-damn v.; also as adj. and excl.
| Yankee-notions 5:1-2 135/1: His feet were hopelessly fast [...] His face began to swell and redden like a turkey-gobbler’s. In vain he twisted and kicked [...] ‘Gosh dang the sterrup!’ exclaimed Sam. | |
| ‘Gorton Town’ in Touch of the Times 68: Gosh, dang it, lads, I’m back again. | |
| Americanisms 595: The Yankee is peculiarly fertile in variations on the name of God, and gives a striking proof of his ingenuity in inventing new forms for the forbidden I swear. He has his by Gorram, by Goldam, and by Goshdang, by the side of the English oath by Golly. | |
| (con. 1860s) Recollections of a Private 240: Gosh dang it, you tarnel fools! | |
| Shields Dly Gaz. 2 Mar. 3/9: I don’t care a gosh-ding whether I would or not. | |
| Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era. | |
![[Can]](/static/img/flags/can.png "Canada") | ‘The Cow-Juice Cure’ in Rhymes of a Rolling Stone 55: Gosh ding my dasted eyes. | |
| ‘The Septagon’ in Beef, Iron and Wine (1917) 15: Maybe Billings could find a story there. But Alec told himself that he would be good and gosh-danged if he could see two reels. | |
| Leave it to Psmith (1993) 515: Gosh-dingit, you leave me a coupla days back saying you’re going to stick up this bozo. | |
| Pop. 1280 in Four Novels (1983) 444: How in the good gosh-dang do you get in these god-dang messes? |
(US) a euph. for god-damn v.
| Abie the Agent 29 Aug. [synd. cartoon strip] Gosh hang that guy Skinny anyway. |
used as an intensifier.
| Buln-Buln and the Brolga (1948) 🌐 Ch. i: What did you gosh well tell my dad yesterday? |
In exclamations
see separate entry.
1. (US) a euph. for God almighty!
| Anti-Slavery Bugle (New Lisbon, OH) 27 Oct. 4/4: Gosh all artichokes! think I don’t know? | |
| Yankee-notions Jan. 5/1: ‘Gosh all Potomac!’ exclaimed our Yankee . | |
| Wkly Lancaster Gaz. (OH) 7 June 3/2: ‘Pay!’ said the youth [...] Gosh all artichokes! [...] ask a fellow to dinner, and then want pay for it. | |
| Harper’s New Mthly Mag. 16 766/2: His chair went over and threw him sprawling upon the floor. ‘Gosh all hemlock!’ he muttered. | |
| Three Scouts xii 126: ‘Gosh all hemlock!’ broke forth Enos, ‘won’t ye never stop twittin’ a feller?’ . | |
| Rock Is. Argus (IL) 15 Nov.4/2: A November Blast. Blows, blows, blows — Gosh all hemlock how it blows. | |
| Yale Yarns 39: ‘Gosh all hemlock!’ cried the farmer. | |
| Kinsley Graphic (KS) 4 Sept. 5/3: When it came to wild cats, why, gosh all hemlock, he was like a prophet of old! | |
| Eb Peechcrap and Wife at the Fair 231: Gosh all fish-hooks! it must a tuck a pow’ful big hook an’ line tu cotch ’im. | |
| Bismarck Dly Tribune (ND) 23 Aug. 8/2: A southerner was once heard to use in the course of a single discussion [...] ‘dog bite ’em,’ ‘gosh all fishhooks,’ ’dat rat ’em’ and ‘jumpin’ gee whiz’. | |
| S.F. Call 4 Oct. 1/2: Gosh all hemlock, I’ve been robbed. Where’s my $1000? | |
| Us Boys 23 Sept. [synd. cartoon strip] Gosh all button hooks. Everybody is on the job but old Eaglebeakie. | |
| Indoor Sports 9 June [synd. cartoon] Gosh all Friday why should I get the gate — I was only there two weeks. | |
| Main Street (1921) 216: Gosh all hemlock! What the dickens is all this stuff about, Carrie? | |
| Babbitt (1974) 278: I know, but gosh all fishhooks, that’s the trouble with women! | |
| (con. 1900s) Elmer Gantry 231: Gosh all fishhooks! They’re waiting for you! | |
| A White Bird Flying (1988) 171: Why, gosh all hemlock, — this time, he was not just remembering the old days. He was living them. | |
![[Scot]](/static/img/flags/sco.png "Scotland") | Dundee Eve. Teleg. 13 May 9/2: They’re waiting for us — right in there? [...] Gosh all hemlock, how d’you know? | |
| Quarry 62: ‘Gosh all hemlock!’ he muttered under his breath as he walked along. ‘Gosh all hemlock!’. | |
| Hie to the Hunters 257: Gosh-old-hemlock, that smells good. | |
| Mad mag. Jul.–Aug. 15: Gosh all hemlock, Mr Science! I sure hope so! |
2. attrib. use of sense 1.
| Forty Liars (1888) 141: Followed by the most jewhillikin gosh-all-hemlock exposition of camels with twisted tails, wappy-jawed giraffes and speckled hyenas. | |
| ‘Marthy’s Younkit’ Little Bk of Western Verse 174: She marr’d Sorry Tom, wich owned the Gosh-all-Hemlock mine! |
a euph. excl., lit. God almighty!
| Boston Transcript 15 Feb. 1/1: Oh, gosh-a-mighty! trike a poor black fellow on de shin! [DA]. | |
| Salvation of Jemmy Sl. I i: Gosh a’ mighty, it’s swell to be a butler for a bunch of highbrows. | |
| ‘Talking Blues No. 2’ (in Tosches 2001) n.p.: In her nighties; she stood between me and the light, and good gosh almighty. | |
| Hysterical Hist. of Aus. 50: For goshamighty sake let me have some free settlers. |