Diana Gabaldon Quote

I’m afraid my wife picked up a number of, er, colorful expressions from the Yanks and such, Frank offered, with a nervous smile. True, I said, gritting my teeth as I wrapped a water-soaked napkin about my hand. Men tend to be very ‘colorful’ when you’re picking shrapnel out of them. Mr. Bainbridge had tactfully tried to distract the conversation onto neutral historical ground by saying that he had always been interested in the variations of what was considered profane speech through the ages. There was Gorblimey, for example, a recent corruption of the oath God blind me. Yes, of course, said Frank, gratefully accepting the diversion. No sugar, thank you, Claire. What about ‘Gadzooks’? The ‘Gad’ part is quite clear, of course, but the ‘zook’.… Well, you know, the solicitor interjected, I’ve sometimes thought it might be a corruption of an old Scots word, in fact—‘yeuk.’ Means ‘itch.’ That would make sense, wouldn’t it? Frank nodded, letting his unscholarly forelock fall across his forehead. He pushed it back automatically. Interesting, he said, the whole evolution of profanity. Yes, and