Questions I've Never Heard Satisfactory Answers To

[BarryBobPosthole]

Where or what the hell is 'tarnation'? I must have been asked a thousand times when I was a kid 'What in tarnation were you thinking?'. I was stumped then and I'm still stumped now. I thought maybe it had something to do with North Carolina. I googled it and still don't know the answer.

BKB

[Big Muddy]

Must have something to do with the Devil....just another way of saying, "What the HELL were you thinking."???.

And, if parents were involved, you got your azz whipped, immediately afterwards!!!

[BarryBobPosthole]

How often do you think I heeded that sure warning sign, Eddie?

I wasn't too awful smart in those days. Still ain't.

BKB

[Sunshine]

My parents used that word, growing up, in Panama too!

If my dad said that, someone was in big trouble.

That was a BAD word!

I also used it with my kids!!!

Tarnation (tär-n'shn) n. is the act of damning or the condition of being damned. interj. Used to express anger or annoyance.

[Sunshine]

Tarnation

Tarnation and darnation (the latter probably having come first) are both euphemistic forms of damnation. Tarnation seems to have been influenced by tarnal, another mild oath derived from (e)ternal!

The Oxford English Dictionary cites late-18th-century examples of tarnation from New England, indicating that it has been part of American speech since colonial days.



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Tarnation is a euphemism for the words "eternal damnation". The Online Etymology Dictionary says that tarnation is an American English word and is known to date from at least 1784.

The phrase "hell and tarnation" is used today particularly in the south eastern parts of the US. It is a way to swear, but without actually using swear words. This is known as a "minced" oath. That is, you are using words that are not explicit in their meaning.

The threat of "hell fire and eternal damnation" is thought to originate from evangelical bible teachings, although it is difficult to find an exact biblical reference to this threat. So the biblical origin of the phrase could be a myth.

Same goes for the phrase:" What in the Sam Hell is wrong with you?"


Just like "Hell's Bell's" means damn!!

[Big Muddy]

My Dad's favotite expression: "Boy, where's your head???".

I often wondered what he'd do to me if I responded with, "It's right here, Pop, planted squarely up my azz!!!"

Actually, I already KNEW what he'd do.