I was watching “Back to the Future” with my daughter recently, and for the first time in my life I wondered: when people say “Great Scott!”, who are they referring to?
Montgomery Scott?
Scott Bakula?
Or was the first person to say it enjoying a single malt and said “Great scotch” but slurred it?
(mods, I debated whether to put this in Cafe Society, but since it’s a factual question I decided to put it here. Feel free to move it if I guessed wrong.)
As per wiki: Great Scott - Wikipedia
Nah, I’m pretty sure it comes from my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Angus McTorque. He was a great Scot.
Nah, it’s a reference to Talisker 10 Year, a great scotch.
No, it dates back to Ninth Century England, when the barons would be concerned about the King’s health. But it was illegal to speculate on the king’s health so a baron couldn’t openly say “Alfred the Great’s got a dose of the clap.” So “Great’s got” was adopted as a code phrase to avoid breaking the law. This phrase was transformed into “Great Scott” over the years.
That’s heavy!
(Someone had to say it.)
As a matter of fact, he was so great the powers that be decided he really could do no wrong and so they gave him a get-out-of-jail card allowing him to always avoid prosecution and thus essentially remain, you know, Scot-free.
That’s what my History professor told me-all these years I thought he was joking!
Best wishes,
hh
“Would ya’ do it for Randolph Scott?”
“Randolph Scott?!”
♫ RAN-DOLPH SCOTT!! ♫
Baio, of course.
Scott Pilgrim’s pretty great.
Weight’s not nothing to do with it!
Blah, blah, blah.