Green’s Dictionary of Slang

euph. for damnation! excl.; a mild excl. of annoyance that precludes anything more lurid and thus taboo.

1800		Sporting Mag. Nov. XVII 89/1: Oh! now botheration to all your fine singing.
1806		G. Colman Yngr John Bull III ii: Och, botheration to the respect that’s bought, by knocking one shilling against another, at an inn!
1818		Cheltenham Chron. 2 Apr. 1/2: Botheration! I never can polish these here.
1821–6		‘Bill Truck’ Man o’ War’s Man (1843) 181: Botheration and turf! what is the matter wid you all now.
1833		J. Neal ‘Robert Steele’ in Down-Easters 180: Botheration seize it, how do I know?
1848		‘Ned Buntline’ Mysteries and Miseries of N.Y. V 32: Och, botheration take ’em all!
1850		G. Seaworthy Bertie 78: Och! bother’shin! will I swear till it?
1863		‘Paddy’s Island of Green’ Donnybrook-Fair Comic Songster 30: Ah, pooh, botheration, dear Ireland’s tha nation / Which all other nations together excel.
1877		‘Town Bellman and Crier’ in Laughing Songster 95: Bodderation, man there’s it: and didn’t I tould you that she had lost her leg?
1881		Dundee Courier (Scot.) 6 May 7/3: Botheration, no; I’d forgot that.
1899		Boy’s Own Paper 11 Feb. 315: That’s just my luck. Oh, botheration take it!
1908		Bulletin (Sydney) 2 July 14/2: Botheration! [...] I hate rising in the middle of my dinner.
1910		Ottumwa Tri-Weekly (IA) 27 Aug. 5/2: Botheration on ye for a tinker.
1927		C. Woofter ‘Dialect Words and Phrases from West-Central West Virginia’ in AS II:8 349: botheration (n. and exclamation), an annoyance or a nuisance.
1946		Lincs. Echo 13 Mar. 2/7: [advert] Botheration! Another cold coming! [...] take Beecham’s Powders.
1958		D. Stivens Scholarly Mouse and other Tales 45: ‘Damn!’ cried Mr Lotus. ‘Botheration!’ said Mrs Lotus.
1969		P. Theroux Murder in Mount Holly (1999) 87: Oh, botheration! [...] How can I drive the getaway car if I can’t drive?
1983		M. Read Scouting for Boys in Best Radio Plays (1984) 141: georgina: Wipe your shoes before you come in here. miles: Botheration.
2023		R. Milward Man-Eating Typewriter 309: bollocks and botheration.