goddam

English

Etymology 1

From French goddam (“English person”), from English goddamn.

Noun

goddam (plural goddams)

1. (Gallicism, chiefly in the plural) An English person, from the perspective of a French person or in the context of French history, originating during the Hundred Years' War.
   • 1991, Philip George Hill, Our Dramatic Heritage: Reactions to realism, page 90:

     That is why the goddams will take Orleans. And you cannot stop them, nor ten thousand like you.

Etymology 2

Interjection

goddam

1. (uncommon) Alternative spelling of goddamn
   • 1951, James Jones, From Here to Eternity, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, page 742:

     “[…] This sand,” he said vaguely; then he said it again, viciously, “this sand. This goddam sand. Its like a goddam fuckin desert.”

   • 2021, Kazuo Ishiguro, Klara and the Sun, Faber & Faber Limited, page 273:

     ‘No, Paul, not now and not in this goddam car!’

Anagrams

• mad dog, mad-dog, maddog

French

Alternative forms

• goddem, goddon

Etymology

Borrowed from English goddamn, in reference to the English propensity for swearing. Originally used in the Hundred Years War.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɔ.dam/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

goddam m (plural goddams)

1. (chiefly in the plural, ethnic slur) an English person
   • 1932, Thierry Sandre, Le corsaire Pellot qui courut pour le roi, page 81:

     Ah! ah! dit-il en riant, il serait digne d’un goddam, si les goddams savaient tirer si droit.

     Ah! ah! he laughed, he would be worthy of an Englishman, if the Englishmen knew how to shoot so straight.

Further reading

• “goddam”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.