# "Great Scott!" = "Groß Gott"?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-scott-gross-gott/283451
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 6, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-scott-gross-gott/283451 "2005-01-06T20:45:26Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-scott-gross-gott/283451/1 "2005-01-06T20:45:26Z")
I took German for a few years in high school and I noticed that the phrase “Groß Gott!” (“Great God!”) kind of sounds like the English expression “Great Scott!” Unable to come up with an explanation for the origin of “Great Scott,” I began wondering if perhaps it’s a corruption of the German phrase as we also see in “Pennsylvania D(e)ut(s)ch.” While I am nowhere near fluent in German, it seems to me as if the two phrases would have roughly the same meaning and the same use.
So, what is the origin of “Great Scott!” and does it have anything to do with my “Groß Gott!” hypothesis?
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### Author:  [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-scott-gross-gott/283451/2 "2005-01-06T21:05:49Z")
“Gruss Gott” mean’s “God’s Greeting,” and was the salutation of choice back in the day in Bavaria and Austria. It’s considered old fashioned and quaint now.
It’s best known these days as the name given to a particular type of illustrated postcard from the 1890s-1910s period, which generally had a scene of a German town or scenery, with “Gruss Gott auf (name of town here).”
Examples: [http://www.judnick.com/GrussAus.htm](http://www.judnick.com/GrussAus.htm)
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### Author:  [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2005, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-scott-gross-gott/283451/3 "2005-01-06T21:09:33Z")
Someone named Michael Quinion at…
> **[World Wide Words: Great Scott](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-gre4.htm)**
>
> Where does the exclamation 'Great Scott!' come from?
…says the origin is “…is almost certainly American of Civil War era, at the latest”
and that he (Quinion) and various other researchers, think the reference is to General Winfield Scott. Apparently, it was common for the soldiers to make a “Great \_\_\_\_\_!” comment, filling in the blank with their commander’s name.
Has to be true. Same thing happened with Germany’s 17th century naval officer - Reichadmiral Balzuvfier.
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### Author:  [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2005, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-scott-gross-gott/283451/4 "2005-01-06T21:11:19Z")
Sorry, that should have been “Gruss aus…”
Oh, and as for your OP question; some websites say “Great Scott” comes from General Windfield Scott, of the US Civil War period.
Here is a reliable source, which links earlier “minced oaths” with General Scott:
[http://www.takeourword.com/Issue087.html](http://www.takeourword.com/Issue087.html)
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### Author:  [@Gordie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordie)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2005, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-scott-gross-gott/283451/5 "2005-01-06T21:46:33Z")
I disagree that “Grüß Gott” is considered quaint in Bavaria, it is still in the vernaculars of the region.
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### Author:  [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-scott-gross-gott/283451/6 "2005-01-06T21:50:51Z")
> [@Gordie](#):
>
> I disagree that “Grüß Gott” is considered quaint in Bavaria, it is still in the vernaculars of the region.
I heard both “Grüß Gott” and " “Grüße” in areas of southeastern Germany, Switzerland and Austria fairly recently. It may be considered quaint by others in Germany, but has hardly fallen into disuse.
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### Author:  [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2005, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-scott-gross-gott/283451/7 "2005-01-06T22:00:14Z")
I stand corrected: my info came from someone who got funny looks for using “Gruss Gott” in _North_ Germany–but it looks like that was just because they thought he was a Bavarian.
Seems like “Gruss Gott” is South Germany/Austria, and “Moin” in the north, with “Mahlzeit” being used around midday.
[http://www.toytownmunich.com/lofi/index.php/t9517.html](http://www.toytownmunich.com/lofi/index.php/t9517.html)
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### Author:  [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2005, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-scott-gross-gott/283451/8 "2005-01-06T22:37:51Z")
Germans seem to be either tragically hip or terribly quaint with very little middle ground. 🙂
> [@Rodd Hill](#):
>
> Seems like “Gruss Gott” is South Germany/Austria, and “Moin” in the north, with “Mahlzeit” being used around midday.
Mahlzeit was heard very commonly at the place I worked in Gross Gerau (sort of on the hypotenuse of the triangle formed by Mainz/Wiesbaden, Darmstadt and Frankfurt).
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### Author:  [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2005, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-scott-gross-gott/283451/9 "2005-01-06T22:42:08Z")
> [@Rodd Hill](#):
>
> “Gruss Gott” mean’s “God’s Greeting,”
Yes, I’m aware of that. That’s why I used “Groß Gott” instead of “Grüß Gott” - “Great God!” (even if that is only the literal translation) would make more sense than “God’s greetings.”
> [@Antiochus](#):
>
> Someone named Michael Quinion at…
>
> [http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-gre4.htm](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-gre4.htm)
Ah, thanks for the info. I knew my hypothesis was too good to be true. It seems as though I’m not the only one who’s considered that. I guess my question now is how it spread from a small group of soldiers to more widespread use. I assume at least part of it is because “Scott” sounds a bit like “God” but it still seems like specialized slang to me.
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### Author:  [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-scott-gross-gott/283451/10 "2005-01-06T23:34:04Z")
If an expression literally meaning “Great God!” were used, wouldn’t it have to be **Groß_er_ Gott** –i.e., grammatically correct as to gender and case? That gives you an extra syllable between the /s/ and /g/ sounds…it wouldn’t sound like Great Scott unless you were really slurring your speech, for example around Oktoberfest.
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### Author:  [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2005, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-scott-gross-gott/283451/11 "2005-01-06T23:38:38Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#):
>
> If an expression literally meaning “Great God!” were used, wouldn’t it have to be **Groß_er_ Gott** –i.e., grammatically correct as to gender and case? That gives you an extra syllable between the /s/ and /g/ sounds…it wouldn’t sound like Great Scott unless you were really slurring your speech, for example around Oktoberfest.
You’re absolutely correct. It’s been a few years since I’ve taken German.
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### Author:  [@galt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galt)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2005, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-scott-gross-gott/283451/12 "2005-01-07T02:01:53Z")
> [@Antiochus](#):
>
> Same thing happened with Germany’s 17th century naval officer - Reichadmiral Balzuvfier.
Don’t forget the famous Indian Chief Setagazongas.