# "Dashed" as an oath **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 10, 2009, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dashed-as-an-oath/492632 "2009-04-10T12:40:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dashed-as-an-oath/492632/1 "2009-04-10T12:40:28Z")
On my way in to work this morning, I was listening to a Jeeves and Wooster audiobook, and one of my sleepy synapses fired as I heard Bertie saying things like “dash it all”, “that dashed hat,” and so on. It occurred to me that in more genteel times, writers would replace swear words with dashes, like “the d—ed woman”, or “go to h—”. I got to wondering if “dash” as an oath of its own arose as a reference to this practice, sort of like how today we might say, “I’m so bleeping tired” or whatnot. Anyone know? ---
**Author:** ![sweeteviljesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dashed-as-an-oath/492632/2 "2009-04-10T12:49:51Z")
From the context, it just seems like it is a substitute for “damn” in the way that “gosh” is a substitute for “God”. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dashed-as-an-oath/492632/3 "2009-04-10T13:18:17Z")
I think it’s just a [minced oath](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minced_oath); after all, you wouldn’t substitute it for just any “dashed” word. (“Go to dash!”) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dashed-as-an-oath/492632/4 "2009-04-10T20:51:20Z")
“Dash” itself is used to mean destroy fairly often in Bible translations: > [@](#): > > thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel > Psalm 2:9 > [@](#): > > And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them. > Jeremiah 13:14 > [@](#): > > And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. > Luke 4:11 Possibly this also contributed to dash being used as a curse word. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dashed-as-an-oath/492632/5 "2009-04-10T21:58:56Z")
Does “oath” also mean “profanity”? I’ve never heard it used like that. Is it a UK thing? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dashed-as-an-oath/492632/6 "2009-04-10T22:02:05Z")
I’ve read it, usually in the phrases “muttered oaths” or “swearing oaths.” ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dashed-as-an-oath/492632/7 "2009-04-10T22:02:21Z")
I’ve heard it my whole life in the U.S. It dates back to 1175, although only Vikings used it that way then in North America. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Seventh\_Deadly\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6bbea6/32.png) [@The\_Seventh\_Deadly\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Seventh_Deadly_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dashed-as-an-oath/492632/8 "2009-04-10T22:14:06Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Does “oath” also mean “profanity”? I’ve never heard it used like that. Is it a UK thing? Hmm. Surprised you’ve managed to avoid it; it’s a pretty common usage AFAICT, though I admit I’ve seen it in print a lot more often than I’ve actually heard it. I’ve always assumed that “swear,” “oath” and “curse,” used in reference to profanity, came from the days when blasphemy was a much bigger concern than vulgarity. Wasn’t it once a much bigger no-no to say “by God” than it was to say “fuck?” ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dashed-as-an-oath/492632/9 "2009-04-10T22:27:14Z")
> [@thetruewheel](#): > > I’ve always assumed that “swear,” “oath” and “curse,” used in reference to profanity, came from the days when blasphemy was a much bigger concern than vulgarity. Wasn’t it once a much bigger no-no to say “by God” than it was to say “fuck?” > [@acsenray](#): > > I’ve read it, usually in the phrases “muttered oaths” or “swearing oaths.” Come to think of it, I’ve definitely heard/read “muttered oaths”, but I always assumed that meant God – like **thetruewheel** said – or actual oaths against an enemy (“I’ll get you, I will!”), not just generalized fuckshitdamncraps. Well 0@7#, learn something new every hour. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dashed-as-an-oath/492632/10 "2009-04-10T22:37:16Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > I’ve read it, usually in the phrases “muttered oaths” or “swearing oaths.” You mean like “mutter trucker”?😉 Or, maybe it’s like “I swear, that guy down the street is a mincer!”😛 ---
**Author:** ![Varrius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e9a140/32.png) [@Varrius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Varrius)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dashed-as-an-oath/492632/11 "2009-04-11T01:51:34Z")
> [@thetruewheel](#): > > Wasn’t it once a much bigger no-no to say “by God” than it was to say “fuck?” I recall learning that in the early 17th century in America the adults of the Puritan communities were quite outraged at the teens use of a contraction of God. It was actually a contraction of the term God Bless You that we still use today. The term is goodbye. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dashed-as-an-oath/492632/12 "2009-04-11T01:54:51Z")
> [@Varrius](#): > > I recall learning that in the early 17th century in America the adults of the Puritan communities were quite outraged at the teens use of a contraction of God. It was actually a contraction of the term God Bless You that we still use today. The term is goodbye. “God be with ye”, I believe, in between times contracted to “God be w’ ye”. ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dashed-as-an-oath/492632/13 "2009-04-11T02:11:12Z")
A fairly obscure source called “[Merriam-Webster](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dash%5B1%5D)” gives the first two meanings of “dash” as a verb as such: 1: to break by striking or knocking 2: to knock, hurl, or thrust violently From this, it’s not hard to see where the mild curses arose. :rolleyes: