When I was a child we could say 'darn' but NOT 'darn it' or 'dang it.' The latter two were obviously a substitution... :o)


>no, not now, but as a substitute for such, sort of toned-down profanity. Mind you, back in the day it probably was - my parents would have frowned on my saying it. Just as kids in the old US movies were admonished for saying "damn" (thus "darn" was invented?)
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>>Is 'sodding' considered profanity?
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>>>Aye ... I guess you're right: Sod it, etc. However "sodding" is used only as an adjective as in "You've no sodding right to do that!". In Mike's example it would be used such as "You can keep your sodding 10% off; I can get it much cheaper elsewhere".
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>>>Otoh "sodding" is rarely heard nowadays. As you know, profanity is the norm nowadays and people are much less cautious with their language, much more likely to say "f***ing".
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>>>>Really? No 'sod off' or 'sod all' in England? I guess that's only in the books...
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>>>>>>Good morning. (All right, good afternoon). I was waiting for an Englishman to wander by so I could share a flyer that landed on my doorstep the other day. It was from a local landscaping company looking for new customers. The headline: "NEW SODDING 10% OFF." Sounds like quite a deal, no?
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>>>>>Hmmmm! Not really. We don't use the verb "to sod" and I'm sure its longer form is the same in the US anyway :-)
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>>>>>>>Now perhaps they'll at last be able to wrest that minuteman's flintlock from his "cold dead hands"!
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>>>>>>>>LOS ANGELES — Charlton Heston, who won the 1959 best actor Oscar as the chariot-racing "Ben-Hur" and portrayed Moses, Michelangelo, El Cid and other heroic figures in movie epics of the '50s and '60s, has died. He was 84.
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>>>>>>>>According to a statement from the actor's family, Heston died at his home in Beverly Hills on Saturday. His wife Lydia was at his side.