DAGNABIT or DAGGONEIT......where did it originate?

Dagnabit, according to family rumors (my granddad's father worked in the industry) was a compromise. Most of those cartoons were prized by soldiers during the war, a special treat. On the one hand, you have guys seeing people slaughtered every day, so "shucks" just comes across a bit weak. On the other, they're light entertainment back home, so you don't want to upset the fragile folks. (They weren't really meant to be kid's cartoons at first, and usually shown alongside newsreels of the war.)

So, they created compromises, some taken from their own experiences during previous wars. Some soldiers would get wounded but were too christian to swear from the pain, especially if it was something probably fatal. Over time the animator/voice people kind of collected and adopted various phrases, and some did better with the movie goers than others, and became popular characters catch-phrases, such as Yosemite Sam.

Of course, my great-grandma on the other side of the family once told me "Shit!" was another name for Jesus when she slipped one day when I was 6 or so years old, so take all this with a bit of salt.

grinning
Quoting: falldown

Dagnabit seems to have come first, in origin it is from the U.S.....

It seems to actually be a mix variation of "God Damn it!" of course.

Much like the abbreviated "Geeze" is used as a more appropriate and exceptionable form of "Jesus".

I do think that Dagnabit predates WWII but there seems a lot of validity in the mode of popularity expressed by your Grandfather. (Cartoons carrying the message.)

Doggoneit seems the even more watered down compromise word choice, using word substitutions that already exist in order to remove it further from blasphemous meaning.

Dog instead of God.

Gone instead of Damn.

The one thing I would add however is that I doubt it originated with soldiers of any stripe.

It more likely came as a compromise to get around the censors.

(This is all speculation and should not be taken as any kind of scholarly truth! I am just making a guess based on what I think is likely.)

:)

Take care friend.

D.

first use:


Terry Toons Deputy Dawg (originally from the U.S.A. in early 1960s) first appeared on British television during the 1960s (more information on the exact dates soon). This cartoon tended to be shown at about 16:00 or so just after the kids got home from school.


Deputy Dawg:- Not to bright deputy sheriff who resided mainly in the jailhouse. Occasionally got the better of his adversaries but by far he ended up getting into trouble. Favourite expressions "Dag nabit" "Cotton pickin pesky"

[link to www.thechestnut.com]

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Jed Clampett from the Beverly Hillbillies?

I remember character actor "Gabby" Hayes using the word(s) in old 1930-1940s westerns.

Just to clarify (and shamelessly keep the thread bumped, hehe)....the second post was from a poster on another thread. The story was hers/his.

There was reference when I was a little girl that the term was used during the American Revolutionary War era, as some of the family came from the Pennsylvania area. It seemed to always produce an over-reaction when used in conversation, but no one ever knew exactly where the term originated.

My great aunt seemed to think it had something to do with a distant relative (1700's) of OURS who ran off with the daughter of a nobleman or some such thing......

I think it might be reasonable to assume the "compromise" idea.....

Occasionally it just becomes another search I do when I'm really bored, and someone used dagone-it on another thread.......I've never asked here before....

thanks for the idea
:-)

So. Origin of words... My paternal Grandfather was direct import from Swiss/Germany. My dad was severely punished for speaking German as a child.. so only a few words suvived, and are subject to speculation: we still call a nice fattening treat a "geedunk" - I have no idea how it was spelled.. and a general mess up is/was a "Kerflugginah". Again, all in sounds. I know that there is/was a LOT of dutch in Pennsylvania; Germany and Irish everywhere. I suspect that Dag Nab It! Was some other language expostulation, that got taken up. Sorta like English speakers have little or no reaction to 'cago in su leche'... cursing in another language is not cursing, right? Interresting site...

Dagbladet is a Norwegian/Dutch word