Comic books are filled with exclamations like Perry Whites’ “Great Caesars Ghost!” and Wonder Womans’ “Great Hera!” I know that Great Caesars Ghost comes from Shakespeare and Great Hera is just something that fits with WW’s amazon theme. But often, folks will say, “Great Scott!” It’s so ubiquitous that I don’t think it is intended as part of a particular hero’s motif. Any idea of where we acquired “Great Scott?”
According to the Take Our Word For It site he was an American general.
By the way, the phrase ‘great Caesar’s ghost’ appears nowhere in Shakespeare, although Caesar’s ghost does of course pop up in the play Julius Caesar.
Next you’ll be telling me Caesar never said, “Pizza! Pizza!”
Haven’t you seen Back to the Future ?
Christopher Lloyd, the prof. invented the saying
“Eat two, Brutus!”
Meredith Wilson used “Great Honk!” to great effect in “The Music Man.”