begorrah

What it means

1. 1.

   By God — a nineteenth-century euphemistic oath that no living Irish person says sincerely. Listed because visitors arrive expecting it, usually attached to 'top o' the mornin'', which is equally unused.

In use

• Begorrah, would you look at that.

  Note: Only ever heard in Ireland as mockery of tourists, films or greeting cards.

• Nobody says begorrah. Nobody has ever said it to me.

  Note: A sentiment you will hear from Irish people fairly often.

Where it comes from

A real euphemism for 'by God', attested in the nineteenth century and genuinely spoken then. Its survival is owed to stage-Irish comic characters in Victorian theatre and later Hollywood, which preserved it as costume long after ordinary speech dropped it. 'Bejaysus' and 'begob' are the forms that actually lasted, though both now sound old.

First attested: early 19th century

Other forms

Similar terms:

bejaysus, begob