Whiteisms
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Etymology Journal ยท I

I'll be darned

Meaning

A mild, polite way of expressing surprise or annoyance without using actual profanity. It is a quintessential G-rated exclamation.

Polite, mild

Used in a sentence

  • Well, I will be darned, I left my keys inside the car again.
  • I will be darned if I know how to turn this computer off.
  • He found the lost photo in the basement and said well, I will be darned.

The backstory

This is a minced oath, created to replace the word damned while retaining the same emphasis. It has been a staple of polite, exasperated speech for a long time.

Heard in

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