land o' Goshen

English

Etymology

From the place first mentioned in Genesis 45:10 as the land set aside for the Israelites when they settled in Egypt (ultimately from Hebrew ⁧אֶרֶץ-גֹּשֶׁן⁩). Perhaps chosen as a minced oath to replace gosh, itself a replacement for God

Interjection

land o' Goshen

  1. (US, dated) Used by Christians for swearing without being overtly vulgar or blasphemous.
    • 1884, Lydia Wood Baldwin, A Yankee School-teacher in Virginia, New York: Funk and Wagnalls, page 210:
      "Land o' Goshen! sence I've come t' the happy land, as I call it, I ain't hed no sech tea as I used t'."
    • 1971, “Suicide Song”, in Loudon Wainwright III (lyrics), Album II, performed by Loudon Wainwright III:
      Stomp on the moon and spit in the ocean / Razzamatazz and I love you / Holy smokes and Land o' Goshen / You can do anything that you want to do.

Further reading

Land of Goshen on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

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