Who is Scott, and why is he great?

[Hayduke_Lives]

I’ve noticed that on the Old “Super Friends” cartoon, as well as in old comic books, Superman would occassionally utter “Great Scott”, usually when he was in awe of something.

So…?

Who is Scott and why is he great?

[DarrenS]

According to this link, there are a couple of possiblities:

1. General Winfield Scott, hero of the War of 1812 and the Mexican War.

2. A corruption of the German “gruess Gott”

Couple of other links on that page with descriptions of the origin of the phrase.

[Motog]

Merriam Websters says:

The Scott in Great Scott does come from the name, but there is no definitive evidence to prove which Scott gave his or her name to this mild oath used as a euphemism for “Great God.”