What do minced words mean in writing and speech?

Minced words are sissy swears. They’re the words we might substitute for real profanity. Instead of penning or uttering foul epithets, we use these seemingly euphemistic exclamations, perhaps hoping to avoid offending polite company.

What does mincing even mean?

Mincing points to posturing, pretending, or putting on airs. In terms of language, mincing refers to lessening, palliating, softening, or weakening the words we use. It's sort of a creative cussing, except it's not really all that creative.

How many of these 75 minced word phrasings do you recognize?

And can you decipher the actual swear words for which they stand? (If you know the answers, don’t shout them out!)

1. balderdash
2. baloney
3. bejabbers
4. bleeding heck
5. bloody
6. bloody heck
7. B.S.
8. bugger
9. by golly
10. by Jove
11. cheese and crackers
12. cheese whiz
13. consarn
14. crikey
15. cripes
16. dad gum it
17. dagnabbit
18. dang
19. darn
20. doggone
21. drat
22. egad
23. fark
24. fiddlesticks
25. figs
26. for crying out loud
27. for Pete’s sake
28. for pity's sake
29. freaking
30. fudge
31. gadzooks
32. gee whiz
33. gee willikers
34. godfrey
35. gol-darn
36. golly
37. good gravy
38. good grief
39. goodness gracious
40. gosh
41. gosh darn
42. great godfrey Daniel
43. Heaven's to Betsy
44. heck
45. holy cow
46. holy heck
47. holy moley
48. holy smokes
49. holy spit
50. horse feathers
51. jeepers
52. jeepers creepers
53. jeez
54. Jiminy Christmas
55. Jiminy Cricket
56. Judas Priest
57. land sakes
58. moley mackerel
59. my goodness
60. my word
61. OMG
62. omigosh
63. Sam Hill
64. shoot
65. shucks
66. son of a beach
67. son of a biscuit
68. son of a gun
69. suffering succotash
70. sugar
71. tarnation
72. thunderation
73. ticked off
74. what the dickens
75. what the heck

Maybe we’re not as polite as we think we are.

What’s more, this collection of sissy swears or minced words does not even include euphemisms for the worst ethnic, gender, or other particular people-directed curse words.

Image/s:

Girl Chopping Onions

by Gerrit Dou

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