god-damn

god-damnalso goddamn, late 14c., "the characteristic national oath of Englishmen" [Century Dictionary]. from God + damn (v.). Goddam (Old French godon, 14c.) was said to have been a term of reproach applied to the English by the French. Mais, fussent-ils [les anglais] cent mille Goddem de plus qu\\'a present, ils n\\'auront pas ce royaume. [Joan of Arc, 1431, quoted in Prosper de Barante\\'s "Histoire des ducs de Bourgogne"] Hence French godan "fraud, deception, humbug" (17c.). Compare Old French godeherre "characteristic exclamation uttered by the Germans," and goditoet, also considered a characteristic exclamation of the English. Goddammes was the nickname given by Puritans to Cavaliers, in consequence of the latter\\'s supposed frequent employment of that oath.