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Can We Help?: Golly gosh, what do those sayings mean?

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Presenters sit on set, text overlay reads "Why did English drop the polite form of 'you'?"
Can We Help?: Golly gosh, what do those sayings mean?

SUBJECTS:  English

YEARS:  5–6


Have you ever wondered where sayings like 'golly gosh', 'by gum' or 'drat' come from?

In this video, Professor Kate Burridge explains the origins and meaning of these and other sayings. She also explains the history of the pronoun 'you'.


Things to think about

  1. 1.Some words and sayings are not appropriate to use in certain places and with some people. To get around this, alternative terms are used instead. Do you and your friends have words or sayings that you wouldn't use in front of your certain people? Have you heard or read the words 'thee', 'ye', 'thee' and 'thine'? If you have, do you know how they were used by people in the past?
  2. 2.When did the terms 'gorblimey' and 'drat' appear in the English language? What are the origins of these sayings? What similar sayings were around at this time? How does Kate describe these sayings? Imagine that you live in the 13th century. When speaking to a friend, would you have referred to them using the word 'thee' or 'ye'? Why?
  3. 3.Sayings such as 'gorblimey' and 'Gordon Bennett' are described as 'euphemisms'. What does this word mean? Why do you think sayings like these were used? Are they still used today? When did the pronouns 'thou', 'thee' and 'thy' stop being used? Why does Kate think that 'you' replaced them?
  4. 4.Imagine that you are living in the 13th century. Have some fun applying the rule of the time for the use of 'thou', 'thee', 'thy', 'ye' and 'you' when speaking with people. Think about which term would be correct when speaking to friends, teachers, siblings, parents and grandparents.



Date of broadcast: 21 Mar 2008


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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