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Scare the jeepers out of me

Posted by Pamela on June 25, 2006

In Reply to: Scare the jeepers out of me posted by David FG on June 25, 2006

: : : : Hi ,
: : : : would you tell me what does it meen "scare the jeepers out of me"?
: : : : thank you

: : :
: : : It simply means to give you a great fright. 'Jeepers' here is an arbitrary word which doesn't really mean anything and the phrase is frequently used with alternatives used in its place.

: : : DFG

: :
: : "Jeepers" is a minced form of "Jesus". It occurs in the phrase "jeepers creepers" (="Jesus Christ"). A commoner form of your phrase is "scare the bejeezus/bejasus out of me". "Bejasus" (variously spelt) is a phonetic form of the Irish pronunciation of "By Jesus".

:
: You are, of course, correct. But why "scaring the 'Jesus'" (in one or other minced form) should be a particularly advanced form of scaring is a mystery to this Irishman who thinks that 'bejasus' is used far more frequently by those attempting to imitate the Irish than by the genuine article.

: We don't say (contrary to popular opinion) say 'begorrah' much, either.

: DFG

And I've never said "gidday mate" nor heard it in the wild very often. Pamela

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