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Gadzooks

2 stages from English to English.

Today it means an old-fashioned exclamation of surprise

Where does the word "gadzooks" come from? It comes from English God's hooks, adopted directly into English (1690s).

1
Stage 1 of 2
God's hooks
English · 1600s
"by God's nails"
an oath by the nails that fixed Christ to the cross; like 'zounds', God's wounds, it was bent out of shape to avoid blasphemy
2
Stage 2 of 2
gadzooks
English · 1690s
"an exclamation"
'gad' was a softening of 'God'; by the 1800s it was a mock-old exclamation in historical novels
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Gadzooks’s story begins in English: God's hooks meant “by God's nails.” An oath by the nails that fixed Christ to the cross; like 'zounds', God's wounds, it was bent out of shape to avoid blasphemy. It reached English by 1690s as gadzooks. 'gad' was a softening of 'God'; by the 1800s it was a mock-old exclamation in historical novels. Today, gadzooks means an old-fashioned exclamation of surprise.