English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Corruption of stop +‎ my +‎ vitals. Compare stap me.

Interjection

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stap my vitals

  1. (obsolete) An exclamation of surprise or anger, sometimes used as an oath.
    • 1845, William Hazlitt, Lectures on the English Comic Writers:
      You have married a woman beautiful in her person, charming in her airs, prudent in her conduct, constant in her inclinations, and of a nice morality - stap my vitals!
    • 1854, Tom Taylor, Charles Reade, Masks and Faces:
      The true Preux des Dames, (regretfully) went out with the full periwig, stap my vitals!
    • 1928, Virginia Woolf, Orlando:
      "Stap my vitals, Bill" (this was to Shakespeare), "there's a great wave coming and you're on the top of it".
    • 1934, PG Wodehouse, Right Ho, Jeeves:
      "Stap my vitals, Tuppy, old corpse," I said, concerned, "you're looking pretty blue round the rims."
    • 1995, Kenneth Robert, Boon Island:
      Stap my vitals Neal cried, and I knew he was quoting Otway.

Derived terms

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