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Holmes tore it open, and then with a bitter curse hurled it into the grate.

With a bitter curse I shook my fist at it as I gazed.

“With an oath Miss Winter darted forward,

“That will do,” said he, with an oath.

These are all taken from the Sherlock Holmes canon.

The question is what would the curses and oaths actually be. I don't expect them to have said "oh, for f***'s sake", but I wonder about the general range of themes that would be used by a swear.

Chiffa
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    Where is your attempt to look you Victorian swear words and profanity? :) – Lambie Feb 28 '24 at 19:30
  • That'd take most of the question, which, I think, is contrary to tradition. – Chiffa Feb 28 '24 at 19:49
  • Generally, Victorian-era swears were of the religious variety, judging from the plethora of minced oaths involving the deity: "Dad-gum" for goddamn, "Dad-blasted", Geez for "Jesus" and so on that show up in the literature of the period. Twain talks about being shamed when his wife let loose a stream of profanity, copying verbatim what he had just given out, and he vowed never again to speak profanity (at least in his household or in front of his wife). – Robusto Feb 28 '24 at 20:05
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    https://english.stackexchange.com/help/dont-ask – Lambie Feb 28 '24 at 21:13
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    What are "swears"? – tchrist Feb 29 '24 at 01:27
  • @Robusto - The examples you give are American. I can't imagine British gentlemen like Holmes and Watson saying "Geez!". Some novelists of the time use disguised swear-words like "D--n it!" I suggest something like "Damn it/you to hell!" – Kate Bunting Feb 29 '24 at 09:57
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    It's going to depend a lot on region, social class, social setting, etc, and probably personal preference. I assume you're asking about Conan Doyle's Late Victorian London middle class? Googling Victorian profanity gets a lot of results but the quality is variable. – Stuart F Feb 29 '24 at 10:11
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    https://www.salon.com/2013/05/11/the_modern_history_of_swearing_where_all_the_dirtiest_words_come_from/ – Stuart F Feb 29 '24 at 14:02
  • @KateBunting: Holmes and Watson don't used minced oaths anyway. Conan-Doyle's text just uses euphemisms like "oath" and "curse" and the like. I suppose Victorian Brits were too circumspect (not to say "priggish") to try even to render approximations. – Robusto Feb 29 '24 at 18:34
  • @Robusto It's not clear who the speaker is in the examples, given. But one is Miss Winter. A proper woman would have been more likely to use a euphemism, I think. So we need to know what some of the British equivalents of your swears were. – Barmar Feb 29 '24 at 20:55
  • @Robusto- I know they don't. I said 'some novelists', meaning 'other than ACD'. No doubt he expected his readers to know the type of oath his characters might use. – Kate Bunting Mar 01 '24 at 08:45
  • Is this not a hiding to nothing? Whatever 'swears' were common in Victorian English, do you really think any writer or editor, publisher or printer of that time was likely to publish any profanity? – Robbie Goodwin Mar 12 '24 at 22:39

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