Zounds

Use this forum to suggest Good Words for Professor Beard.
Cacasenno
Lexiterian
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Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2007 12:39 pm
Location: Italy

Zounds

Postby Cacasenno » Thu Dec 27, 2007 3:45 pm

Zounds is nothing less than the last word in my English-Italian dictionary (Cassell's), followed only by Zulu and Zurich.

The meaning is something like good gracious and I don't have the etymology

sluggo
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Re: Zounds

Postby sluggo » Thu Dec 27, 2007 10:14 pm

Zounds is nothing less than the last word in my English-Italian dictionary (Cassell's), followed only by Zulu and Zurich.

The meaning is something like good gracious and I don't have the etymology
I remember it's said to be a truncation of the archaic expression "by God's wounds!" -which would also mean its vowels have shifted since then*.

*- edit upon further review: Something in the cobwebs of my memory suggests that it's the vowels of wounds that has shifted, and that zounds retains the original. I'm not sure. I'm surmising that the 'ow' sound is more Germanic and the 'oo' more French. Anyone?
Stop! Murder us not, tonsured rumpots! Knife no one, fink!

Stargzer
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Postby Stargzer » Mon Dec 31, 2007 3:47 am

Truly a Good Word!

:)
Regards//Larry

"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee


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