G-words

Posted by ESC on September 30, 2000

In Reply to: Golly Gee Willakers posted by Ruth on September 30, 2000

: Trying to find out the origin of 'Golly Gee Willakers' - could it be from an American movie or radio show ?

"Golly" dates back to 1743 in England. "Gee whillikens" back to 1857, according to I Hear America Talking: An Illustrated History of American Words and Phrases by Stuart Berg Flexner (Von Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York, 1976). Some radio or TV character may have come up with a variation on those phrases. This substitution of a G-word for God follows ".the old Hebraic and Middle English tradition of avoiding the sacred words, such as God, by substituting words with the same initial letter." And what's that called gang? That is referred to as "a Minced oath."