During the always interesting family discussions during the holidays, one of my grandmother’s phrases came up. The intriguing part is that some of the family had heard her use the phrase readily, while other never did. But the phrase was:
egads and little fishes
Now my cousin and I came up empty on a search for this, but were directed to:
ye gods and little fishes
And that did match an interesting history:
It’s an elaboration of the older ye gods!, an exclamation that dates back at least to the seventeenth century in Britain, a way of calling on higher powers in a mock-heroic way without actually bringing the wrath of the Church down on you for blasphemy.
However, ye gods and little fishes is characteristically American, an example of the embellishment and ornamentation that was common in the inflated language of the nineteenth century.
Best Web 2.0 Software of 2005 »« My Google Rank
