Posted by Kiwi49 on September 30, 2002
Hi folks -- I'm brand new
here. Mr Google sent me, because I wanted to check out a story from my high school
days . Our English teacher (who was English) once told us that the working
classes in Britain used to blaspheme frequently, so the upper crust brought in
a law banning the practice. However, the ever-inventive citizens circumvented
this by simply shortening their expressions. Contrary to another post here (http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/5/messages/695.html),
cripes doesn't mean just Christ, it means Christ's piss.
Likewise:
Gosh
= God's shit
Crikey = Christ kick me
I'll leave "crikey dick" to your imagination.
Can anyone confirm this? Most dictionaries give a much more PC definition.