darn v.
1. a euph. for damn v.
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | John Bull in America 36: If I don’t have him before the justice, darn my soul. | |
 | West of England Ballad in Literary World 11 Apr. (1890) 347/1: He darned his buttons if he’d gi’ed ‘un the shillin’ [F&H]. | |
| Sam Slick in England I 196: ‘Darn that pig,’ said she. | |
| Biglow Papers (1880) 49: Why, those chaps from the North, with back-bones to ’em, darn ’em. | |
| ‘The Thimble Game’ in Polly Peablossom’s Wedding 31: ‘Durn it,’ said he to himself. | |
| Jeffersonian (Stroudsburg PA) 4 Mar. 1/3: ‘Go to thunder, every darned one of yeou,’ replied the pedlar. [...] ‘Durn it to darnation [etc.]’. | |
| ‘Sut Lovingood’s Adventures in New York’ N.Y. Atlas XXI Aug. in Inge (1967) 142: Durn his pot-headed soul! | |
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Diary in India I 26: Darn my buttons if I haven’t jest a mind to take your neck [...] and chuck the whole bunch of ye down the ’bankment. | |
| Bill Arp 42: Durn the staff and Joe Brown too. | |
| Hoosier Mosaics 48: Dast the luck! Ding the prize package feller! Doggone Bill Powell! Blame the old b’loon! Dern everybody! | |
| (con. c.1840) Huckleberry Finn 159: Dern the dern fog. | |
| Forty Years a Gambler 104: Darn me if he don’t look just like a fellow that beat me out of $5,000. | |
| Hants. Advertiser 31 Jan. 7/7: Then darn me blue [...] if you ain’ busted me. | |
| Ranch & Range (N. Yakima, WA) 6 May 11/1: Darn ’Em All, Anyhow! — Bah! | |
| Colonel’s Dream 115: It belongs to a comapany [...] but Old Bill Fetters owns the majority of the stock – durn, him! | |
| ‘All Gold Canyon’ Complete Short Stories (1993) II 1024.: Gosh darn my buttons! if I didn’t plumb forget dinner! | |
| ‘Memoirs of a Yellow Dog’ Four Million (1915) 115: ‘Why, darn my eyes,’ says the old man. | |
| Varmint 116: You thought I was a coward, – darn you! | |
| ‘Broncho versus Bicycle’ in Songs of the Cattle Trail 21: Rode up to my side, an’ dern his hide, / Remarked ’twere a pleasant day fer a ride. | |
| Penny Showman 67: Darn me, Inspector, if I don’t think that he’s a dead ‘un. | |
| Your Broadway & Mine 13 Dec. [synd. col.] Tom Cochran [...] says dern it instean of dammit and heck instead of hell. | |
| Sudden 212: Durn it, a’most wish I’d chanced the trail. | |
| Candy (1970) 16: Darn Daddy anyway! | |
| Semi-Tough 244: Linda said she hadn’t seen Shake Tiller or heard from him, darn the luck. | |
| Choirboys (1976) 296: Darn you, Roscoe! Gosh darn you, you bully! |
2. as past participle of sense 1; usu. as darned if... or ...be darned (cf. I’ll be darned! ).
| Yankee Notions 9: ‘I am a brother yankee too [...] though I suppose you don’t like me any the better for that, eh! brother Jonathan?’ ‘No darn’d if I dewe.’. | |
| Life in the Saddle 46: He threatened to report me, and I told him to report and be darned. | |
| Sailor’s Word-Bk (1991) 181: Cheating the Devil. [...] hard swearing as [...] dang you, be darned. | |
| ‘A Night in New Arabia’ Strictly Business (1915) 230: Bit it [...] darned if he didn’t, and he ain’t had the tooth three weeks. |
In exclamations
a general excl. of suprise or annoyance; note one-off var. in cit. 1832.
| Love and Friendship 57: Darn my skin but here’s that impudent sailor again. | |
| Brother Jonathan II 75: Why; darn his hide, I say! | |
| Polit. Examiner 8 Dec. 4/1: I seed her at church one day fixed up kinder pretty snug; so [...] darn my seelskin pumps if I dont buck up to her next Fust day [DA]. | |
| Whip & Satirist of NY & Brooklyn (NY) 9 Apr. n.p.: ‘Vy, darn my buttons, give the man a sight for his money’. | |
| Dick and Sal 11: How we was scared! Why darn my skin! | |
| ‘Wars Yure Hoss?’ in Polly Peablossom’s Wedding 42: Dad darn mi hide, ef yu don’t shut up, dad, I’ll never git tu the hoss. | |
| Luck of Roaring Camp (1873) 15: Dern my skin if he was n’t a talking to a jaybird as was a sittin’ on his lap. | |
| Actors’ Boarding House (1906) 13: Well darn my hide! [Ibid.] 39: Darn his hide. | |
| Manhattan Transfer 131: Darn your hide, Ruth. | |
| Sudden 178: Well, darn my whiskers if I warn’t near forgettin’. | |
| Jennings Goes To School 93: Well, darn my socks! | |
| Savage Night (1991) 26: Darn that Jake Winroy’s hide. |
a mild oath, a euph. for I’ll be damned! under damn v.
| Bucktails (1847) II ii: I’ll be darned but I guess I’ve lost my way. | |
| ‘There’s Danger in Old Chairs!’ Weekly Nashville Union XIII Oct. in Inge (1967) 69: I’ll be durn’d, mister, if I don’t hate to stop a feller when he is a boltin his grub [...] but I be durn’d if you ain’t made a small mistake. | |
| Our Boys 89: No! Be darned if I will! [Ibid.] 157: I’ll be gosh-dashed if I don’t black both o’ your eyes! | |
| Slaver’s Adventures 345: I’ll be darned if I didn’t forget to draw that ’ere shot. | |
| Wanderings of a Vagabond 448: I’m darned if I work fur ennybody fur nuthins. | |
| Hoosier Mosaics 61: ‘Well I’m derned if ’taint quare,’ cried the latter. | |
| Saddle and Mocassin 68: I’ll be durned if I don’t shoot him. | |
| Varmint 113: I’ll be darned – no – yes – dinged if it isn’t the Dink chasing the Canary! | |
| Greenmantle (1930) 294: That much I know, but I’m darned if I can put a name to it. | |
| (con. WWI) One Man’s Initiation: 1917 (1969) 53: ‘King and his gang are all being sent back to the States.’ ‘I’ll be darned! They sure have been drunk ever since they got off the steamer.’. | |
| Hustling Hobo 201: Well I’ll be gosh-darned! | |
| ‘Betty Co-Ed’ [comic strip] in Tijuana Bibles (1997) 58: Well I’ll be derned! | |
| Sudden Takes the Trail 66: An’ what th’ hell he’s gotta laugh at I’m durned if I can guess. | |
| High Window 142: I’ll be darned. You’ve got Sub-deb Bright on your mouth this morning. Looks all right, too. | |
![[Can]](/static/img/flags/can.png "Canada") | Windsor Star (Ontario) 11 Feb. 6/2: Eliphat: I’ll be durned. | |
| Dud Avocado (1960) 31: ‘The one who’s shy and polite?’ She nodded. ‘I’ll be darned.’. | |
| Reach 100: Cut to the stranger: Well I’ll be darned. |