tarnation
American Heritage Dictionary:
Top
tar·na·tion
(tär-nā'shən) 
New England & Southern U.S.
n.
The act of damning or the condition of being damned.
interj.
Used to express anger or annoyance.
New England & Southern U.S.n.
The act of damning or the condition of being damned.
interj.
Used to express anger or annoyance.
[TARN(AL) + (DAMN)ATION.]
REGIONAL NOTE The noun and interjection tarnation illustrate suffixation, the addition of a suffix to a word. Tarnation and darnation (the latter probably having come first) are both euphemistic forms of damnation. Tarnation seems to have been influenced by tarnal, another mild oath derived from (e)ternal! The Oxford English Dictionary cites late-18th-century examples of tarnation from New England, indicating that it has been part of American speech since colonial days.
Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang:
Top
tarnation
noun
noun, mainly US
Damnation. (1790 —) .
M. K. Rawlings Git away, you blasted bacon-thieves!...Git to tarnation! (1938).
[Alteration of damnationnoun , apparently influenced by obs. US slang tarnal adjective , damned, an alteration of eternal adjective .]
noun, mainly US
Damnation. (1790 —) .
M. K. Rawlings Git away, you blasted bacon-thieves!...Git to tarnation! (1938).
[Alteration of damnation
| tarantula-juice, tar, tapper | |
| tart, tash, taste |
Random House Word Menu:
Top
categories related to 'tarnation'
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
Top
Tarnation
 |
Look up tarnation in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
Tarnation may refer to:
- Tarnation (band), a San Francisco-based alt-country-goth band
- Tarnation (film), a 2003 documentary film by Jonathan Caouette
 |
This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Read more
Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang
Oxford University Press. © 1997, 2008, 2010
All rights reserved.
Read more
Random House Word Menu
© 2010 Write Brothers Inc. Word Menu is a registered trademark of the Estate of Stephen Glazier.
Write Brothers Inc.
All rights reserved.
Read more
