When I was a kid, my dad used to express annoyance with the phrase “Aw, GTE!” Imagine it said in the same tone you’d use for “Goddammit!” I happened to think of it recently (Let’s just say I had cause to use it at work.) and couldn’t come up with anything it might stand for. Sadly, Google has let me down.
Has anyone else ever heard this phrase? My dad passed away a couple years ago so I can’t ask him. Knowing my dad, it’s likely to be farm-related, Navy-related, and/or mildly obscene. I’d like to know whether it’s something I need to refrain from saying in front of my Sunday School class, at least.
GTE used to run TV commercials touting their products, and they’d always end with an everyman saying a wide-eyed “gee!” At that point, the announcer would say, “no, G-T-E!” Their phone number mnemonic was 1-800-GEE-NO-GTE (presumably the last digit was ignored by the phone system). If you google “Gee no GTE”, you’ll get around 200 hits, including this one: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,959906,00.html
I would guess that that was the source of your dad’s expression.
It probably derives from a TV ad campaign by GTE of about 15 years ago. The general theme was to show something supposedly amazing which would cause someone to exclaim “Gee!” This was followed by “No, GTE” to make the point that it was the work of the remarkable (though obscure) General Telephone & Electronics Corporation.
My brother once lived in a nearby town that was “served” by General Telephone. Let’s say he was not entirely happy with that service. He called it “Corporal Telephone,” because it never would have made General. I never heard him use GT&E as an expletive, but it would have fit.
