Catherine Stine's IDEA CITY

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Monday, April 30, 2012

Z is for Zounds! An Elizabethan Curse Word

It's always cool to learn archaic words. One word game we play at a writing retreat I attend involves finding flowery and bizarro words out of a Victorian era dictionary. So, I was delighted to run across a few Elizabethan curse words during my teaching of Dr. Faustus by Marlowe, a play I've taught now for a good seven years. I tell my students that they can safely curse away, without offending anyone, because no one will know what the heck they are saying!

Zounds is one such curse. It's an abbreviation of By God's Wounds:
Benvolio: "Zounds, Doctor, is this your villainy?"

Another rich curse is 'Sblood! It's short for By God's Blood:
Benvolio: "'Sblood, I am never able to endure these torments!"

And a third curse is 'Snails! This means By God's Nails:
Clown:"'Snails, what hast thou got there, a book? Why, thou canst not tell ne'er a word on't."

For your entertainment, here are more cool late Medieval words:
Pickadevant= a pointy beard
Costermonger= fruitseller
Profess= teach
lollard= heretic
Compass= embrace
Welkin= sky
I've enjoyed this A to Z Challenge, and meeting so many great bloggers. You are all fabulous! Here is a tiny sampling of some blogs I've learned a lot from:
Jaycee DeLorenzo's idioms theme here.
Caitlin's Logically blog where she informed us about important people and points in history here.
Stephen Tremp's blog theme on the habitable zone in space here.
I welcome my new followers and I'm excited to follow many new bloggers myself. As Faust would say, we have certainly not yet "canvassed every quiddity" (discussed every detail), so I look forward to many more discussions and posts! On Monday, May 7th I will be helping M. Pax celebrate her Backworld's book launch, and on May 23rd, the launch of Susan Kaye Quinn's Closed Hearts. Plus, stay tuned for more posts on the writing world and how to keep the creative juices flowing.
One exciting note, the eBook version of my YA thriller, Fireseed One just went on spring sale at $0.99 so if you're looking for a good nail-biter check it out here. Thanks!
How was your experience of A to Z? 

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32 comments:

  1. loverofwordsApril 30, 2012 at 6:36 AM

    Love these words, will share them with my teenage grandsons. And. . .enjoy your summer. "Summer's lease hath all too short a date."

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  2. Lynn ProctorApril 30, 2012 at 6:45 AM

    great ending words, at least for the challenge--congrats!

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  3. Catherine StineApril 30, 2012 at 6:47 AM

    Boy, don't I know it! I've just finished the spring semester of part-time teaching and I know how fast the summer flies by!

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  4. Miranda HardyApril 30, 2012 at 6:58 AM

    What a fun word. I'll be using it. Lol

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  5. Cynthia J. IannacconeApril 30, 2012 at 7:21 AM

    Love this post! I have a favorite book called The Word Museum by Jeffery Kacirk.
    Thank you!

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  6. Jaye Robin BrownApril 30, 2012 at 7:35 AM

    I had a great time, met lots of new bloggers - like you - and am generally exhausted. Now it's back to real writer time for a bit.

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  7. Jaycee DeLorenzoApril 30, 2012 at 7:42 AM

    Yay, thanks so much for the shoutout! I've really enjoyed your posts and getting to know a bit about you! :D

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  8. UnknownApril 30, 2012 at 7:59 AM

    Snails! I can't believe it's over already. Good work!

    Lucy

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  9. AnonymousApril 30, 2012 at 8:10 AM

    Thanks Catherine for the shout otu! I've totally enjoyed your posts as well. Congrat! on finishing the Challenge.

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  10. Kelly HashwayApril 30, 2012 at 8:25 AM

    I'm totally using zounds today!

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  11. Catherine StineApril 30, 2012 at 8:43 AM

    Cynthia, I will check out the Word Museum. I love learning about archaic words. We're more than costermongers here!

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  12. Jo MarshallApril 30, 2012 at 8:48 AM

    These words are just delightful, Catherine! Brings back many memories of my Siegfried and Isolde days studying for my German Lit BA. What fun! Thanks for the links to the other sites, too. So nice to learn about new fascinating blogs. I've lost track of some of my blog subscriptions, and am just organizing them now, so if I've joined twice, or more, please just take that for my enthusiasm for your excellent blog! Cheers! Jo

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  13. cleemckenzieApril 30, 2012 at 8:52 AM

    I think we need to bring some of those words back. I'm dying to use Zounds in a teen book.

    Congratulations on coming across the finish line. It's been fun running alongside you.

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  14. AnonymousApril 30, 2012 at 9:02 AM

    I like the word zounds.

    And thanks for the shout-out!

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  15. Catherine StineApril 30, 2012 at 9:20 AM

    Thanks, all. C Lee, I think there are some hilarious twenties curses too. And I do know some smutty Medieval words, but this blog is PG-13 rated, so not here. Jo, I'm happy you are following. I love your books and their covers too.

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  16. AnonymousApril 30, 2012 at 9:38 AM

    Zounds is a great word!

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  17. JoyApril 30, 2012 at 10:05 AM

    What an interesting post! Your book looks most intriguing too.

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  18. soggy in the cornerApril 30, 2012 at 12:21 PM

    This is wonderful! I am going to call someone a Costermonger!

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  19. Catherine StineApril 30, 2012 at 1:15 PM

    Don't you just love that word? It sounds completely foul, yet is is actually pretty tame.

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  20. nope April 30, 2012 at 2:44 PM

    I love those words! They simply roll off the tongue.

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  21. Lynda R Young as Elle CardyApril 30, 2012 at 3:41 PM

    Zounds is such a cool word. Maybe we can bring it back into popularity ;)

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  22. JannaApril 30, 2012 at 4:35 PM

    Wonderful. I need to work Zounds and Snails into my everyday vocabulary.

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  23. Catherine StineApril 30, 2012 at 4:36 PM

    Perchance, t'would be beauteous.

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  24. Eliza TiltonApril 30, 2012 at 5:54 PM

    Snails, LOL

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  25. M PaxApril 30, 2012 at 6:28 PM

    Zounds is a great words. I'd never guess it and snails were curse words. Next time I'm looking for a way for my aliens to swear, well, there it is.

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  26. PRMay 1, 2012 at 3:15 AM

    I'm gona start using zounds, see if will catch on, it's too good a word to keep hidden! :)

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  27. Sarah AllenMay 1, 2012 at 9:46 AM

    Great Z word :) Congrats on finishing the challenge!

    Sarah Allen
    (my creative writing blog)

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  28. UnknownMay 2, 2012 at 4:22 AM

    That is an awesome curse. I love reading about curses, swear words and other insults. It's interesting what people found offensive and to express their anger, etc. Thanks for the lovely comment on my blog.

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  29. UnknownMay 2, 2012 at 7:28 AM

    lol both interesting and weird.

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  30. Yvonne StephensonMay 4, 2012 at 6:50 AM

    I have heard zounds in melodramas from a while ago. What a great word. When people start talking about how much more innocent the Victorians were I think about the madrigals, nursery rhymes and now I can add curses to the list of things they don't understand.

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  31. Catherine StineMay 4, 2012 at 4:29 PM

    Good one, Yvonne! You know, the more old texts and plays I read, the more that I realize people were raunchy and sexy and currsed up a blue streak even in 450 BC and before!

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  32. MOVMay 5, 2012 at 8:22 PM

    YOU ROCK!

    best,
    MOV
    http://mothersofbrothersblog.blogspot.com

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