Intensifiers

Posted by ESC on April 06, 2006

In Reply to: Intensifiers posted by Bob on April 04, 2006

: : "You haven't listened to a blind word I said" my father use to say to me (meaning nothing) - does anyone know the origin?

: Intensifiers, particularly those involved in minced oaths, (search our archives for many discussions thereof) tend to retain the initial sound of the word they replace ... therefore, gol-dang and gosh darn replace god damn, and blind is of a family with bleedin', blasted, bloomin', et al., which softened "bloody." Don't know and can't date the origin.

I've heard: "You haven't listened to a blame word I've said." Or "blessed word."