Favorite exclamations

[That Duckfan]

Over the past 90 years, Disney characters have used many exclamations. Some of them quaint, some curious, some pretty creative. What are some of your favorites?

Back when I was keeping up with the Gottfredson Library (will pick again soon TM), I noticed how fond Clarebelle is of the phrase "Land sakes!", to the point where that's become my headcanon catch phrase for her.

Barks' Scrooge is fond of the phrase "Oh my stars!" and variations thereof. Some of my favorites include "Oh my stars and little planets!" and "Oh my stars and sputniks!".

[Baar Baar Jinx]

"Ye cats and little kittens!". I'm sure Scrooge said that in a Barks story, but I can't recall which one.
Did Barks really have Scrooge say "Oh my stars and sputniks"? I doubt it, given that he's an American writer. I seem to recall "Oh my stars and little comets!".
Also, Barks' work is the only time I've ever heard the expression "Oh, so?" to mean "is that so?". It generally means "so what?". I notice Rosa adopted it into his work.

[That Duckfan]

Mar 26, 2020 19:08:01 GMT Baar Baar Jinx said:

"Ye cats and little kittens!". I'm sure Scrooge said that in a Barks story, but I can't recall which one.
Did Barks really have Scrooge say "Oh my stars and sputniks"? I doubt it, given that he's an American writer. I seem to recall "Oh my stars and little comets!".
Also, Barks' work is the only time I've ever heard the expression "Oh, so?" to mean "is that so?". It generally means "so what?". I notice Rosa adopted it into his work.

You underestimate the sputnik craze of the late 50s.

"My stars and little sputniks! How could anything get as bad as this?" ("The Golden River" 22.3; Uncle Scrooge 22, 1958)

I'm not actually sure if it was little planets or little comets. Maybe both.

I think "Oh, so?" was derived from the Donald Duck-speak of the 1930s cartoons. Donald usually takes it as an invitation for a fight, doesn't he?

[RobbK1]

Mar 26, 2020 19:08:01 GMT Baar Baar Jinx said:

"Ye cats and little kittens!". I'm sure Scrooge said that in a Barks story, but I can't recall which one.
Did Barks really have Scrooge say "Oh my stars and sputniks"? I doubt it, given that he's an American writer. I seem to recall "Oh my stars and little comets!".
Also, Barks' work is the only time I've ever heard the expression "Oh, so?" to mean "is that so?". It generally means "so what?". I notice Rosa adopted it into his work.

I don't remember "Ye cats and little kittens!" at all.  I do remember "Ye cats and little fishes!"  I've been using that myself, (despite its poor grammar) all my life, when I've been extremely surprised.  LOTS of people said "Oh SO???" when I was young.  Also, I don't remember Barks using "Oh my stars and sputniks!".  I DO, however remember him using "Oh my stars and garters!", as it is also one of my favourites, which I have used many times in my life.  I Do remember Barks using "Oh my stars and little comets!", but, I've never used that one.  I have used, "Well, I'll be a blue-nosed gopher!" for a totally unexpected surprise that is neutral, or good (not for a disaster).  But THAT wasn't from Barks.  That was from an American country hick portrayal - perhaps Walter Brennan as Granpappy Amos in "The Real McCoys", or him portraying a country bumpkin in one of his films?).

[That Duckfan]

Mar 26, 2020 20:49:38 GMT RobbK1 said:

Mar 26, 2020 19:08:01 GMT Baar Baar Jinx said:

"Ye cats and little kittens!". I'm sure Scrooge said that in a Barks story, but I can't recall which one.
Did Barks really have Scrooge say "Oh my stars and sputniks"? I doubt it, given that he's an American writer. I seem to recall "Oh my stars and little comets!".
Also, Barks' work is the only time I've ever heard the expression "Oh, so?" to mean "is that so?". It generally means "so what?". I notice Rosa adopted it into his work.

I don't remember "Ye cats and little kittens!" at all.  I do remember "Ye cats and little fishes!"  I've been using that myself, (despite its poor grammar) all my life, when I've been extremely surprised.  LOTS of people said "Oh SO???" when I was young.  Also, I don't remember Barks using "Oh my stars and sputniks!".  I DO, however remember him using "Oh my stars and garters!", mas it is also one of my favourites, which I have used many times in my life.  I Do remember Barks using "Oh my stars and little comets!", but, I've never used that one.  I have used, "Well, I'll be a blue-nosed gopher!" for a totally unexpected surprise that is neutral, or good (not for a disaster).  But THAT wasn't from Barks.  That was from an American country hick portrayal (perhaps Walter Brennan as Granpappy Amos in "The Real McCoys", or him portraying a country bumpkin in one of his films?).

Poor grammar? Surely "ye cats" is just Barks-speak for "egads"? I'm assuming? A lot of these exclamations are Disneyfied versions of midcentury oaths, after all.

[Baar Baar Jinx]

Mar 26, 2020 20:58:09 GMT That Duckfan said:

Poor grammar? Surely "ye cats" is just Barks-speak for "egads"? I'm assuming? A lot of these exclamations are Disneyfied versions of midcentury oaths, after all.

He probably meant the "little fishes" part.

"Oh, so?" must be a really old-fashioned phrase from Barks' childhood, that became antiquated even by the time he was writing the Duck comics in his middle-age. I personally never heard it from anyone else.

[RobbK1]

Mar 26, 2020 20:58:09 GMT That Duckfan said:

Mar 26, 2020 20:49:38 GMT RobbK1 said:

I don't remember "Ye cats and little kittens!" at all.  I do remember "Ye cats and little fishes!"  I've been using that myself, (despite its poor grammar) all my life, when I've been extremely surprised.  LOTS of people said "Oh SO???" when I was young.  Also, I don't remember Barks using "Oh my stars and sputniks!".  I DO, however remember him using "Oh my stars and garters!", mas it is also one of my favourites, which I have used many times in my life.  I Do remember Barks using "Oh my stars and little comets!", but, I've never used that one.  I have used, "Well, I'll be a blue-nosed gopher!" for a totally unexpected surprise that is neutral, or good (not for a disaster).  But THAT wasn't from Barks.  That was from an American country hick portrayal (perhaps Walter Brennan as Granpappy Amos in "The Real McCoys", or him portraying a country bumpkin in one of his films?).

Poor grammar? Surely "ye cats" is just Barks-speak for "egads"? I'm assuming? A lot of these exclamations are Disneyfied versions of midcentury oaths, after all.

I was referring to "fishes".  In proper Canadian, British and American English, the correct plural of "fish" is "fish".  "Egads" is slang - not a proper English word.  Just like "Gadzooks!" It is an attempt to disguise the word "God" in a way that was considered "using The Lord's name in vain".  The Gad being a disguised form of "God".  It is a way of saying "Oh God!", used to disguise it when used ub a trivial way, which is a sin for Christians.

[RobbK1]

Mar 26, 2020 21:16:09 GMT Baar Baar Jinx said:

Mar 26, 2020 20:58:09 GMT That Duckfan said:

Poor grammar? Surely "ye cats" is just Barks-speak for "egads"? I'm assuming? A lot of these exclamations are Disneyfied versions of midcentury oaths, after all.

He probably meant the "little fishes" part.

"Oh, so?" must be a really old-fashioned phrase from Barks' childhood, that became antiquated even by the time he was writing the Duck comics in his middle-age. I personally never heard it from anyone else.

Yes.  I WAS referring to the word "fishes". 

Carl Barks always wrote an spoke in an old fashioned way.  I, myself, use pretty much, the same vocabulary.  Mainly older people would say, "Oh so?" , an idiomatic phrase standing for "You really think so?"; Facetiously:"That's what YOU think!"; or "Is that really true"- with each of those different meanings being expressed using different tones of voice and accented words.  When I was young, many, many people over 45 or 50 years old used that phrase often.  So, I wouldn't call it "archaic".  It wasn't used by the "Hepcats" or "beatniks".  But it was used commonly enough by middle-aged folk at that time.  I still use it on occasion.  

[Scrooge MacDuck]

I've adopted "Oh my stars and little comets" as well, it's great!

[Matilda]

Mar 27, 2020 1:28:48 GMT RobbK1 said:

Mar 26, 2020 20:58:09 GMT That Duckfan said:

Poor grammar? Surely "ye cats" is just Barks-speak for "egads"? I'm assuming? A lot of these exclamations are Disneyfied versions of midcentury oaths, after all.

I was referring to "fishes".  In proper Canadian, British and American English, the correct plural of "fish" is "fish". 

Fishes is an acceptable plural of "fish" according to the OED, though it lists the "usual" plural form as "fish". Nowadays "fishes" (according to American Heritage Dictionary) is mostly used when you're talking about two or more kinds or species of fish. But "fishes" was formerly used as the plural more generally. Many people used to be familiar with "fishes" from the King James Version of the Bible, specifically from the well-known story of the feeding of the 5000, where the boy offers his lunch of "five loaves and two fishes". That translation was maintained in the British "New English Bible" (1971), but dropped in e.g. the Revised Standard Version and the New American Bible which use the translation "two fish" or "a couple of fish".

So, no need to apologize for your grammar when you exclaim, "Ye cats and little fishes!"

[Baar Baar Jinx]

Speaking of favorite Disney comics exclamations, mention must be made of "Wak!". This one is inarguably derived from Donald's squawking in the cartoons, but Barks had HD&L and Scrooge use it as well (the nephews had quacky voices in the cartoons, but does this mean that Barks thought Scrooge did too? Did other Ducks like Grandma and Daisy also use the exclamation in Barks' comics? I'm fairly sure no non-Duck characters did). Another favorite of mine is "Great Honk!" (again, I never heard this outside Barks' work).

On the Mouse side, there's early-Gottfredson Mickey's "F' gosh sakes" (hardly unique to the character) and in (I believe) the Gemstone era, attempts were made to popularize "Great Squeak!" as one of Mickey's catchphrases, which mercifully never caught on (apologies to whoever came up with it, but it just seemed too contrived to me).

[Scroogerello]

I like “Heavens-to-Betsy!” and “My lands o’ Goshen!”, which Scrooge yells when he accidentally destroys his own safe in “Terror of the Beagle Boys”. Those phrases must have been outdated even when Barks wrote that story.

I also remember “Oh my socks and shoes!” was said in one story (probably “City of the Golden Roofs”).

And yeah, “Wak!” is a classic, too. It’s used in the Dutch stories a lot as well.

Mar 27, 2020 13:52:36 GMT Baar Baar Jinx said:

This one is inarguably derived from Donald's squawking in the cartoons, but Barks had HD&L and Scrooge use it as well (the nephews had quacky voices in the cartoons, but does this mean that Barks thought Scrooge did too?

I don’t think he ever gave much thought to the characters’ voices in comics, but when he wrote a script for a Scrooge cartoon in the 50s, Barks gave Scrooge a “normal” voice for his regular dialogue, but Clarence Nash-type squawking when he’s angry/upset. I think that would’ve worked well, at least for the short cartoon comedy.

[Matilda]

Mar 27, 2020 13:52:36 GMT Baar Baar Jinx said:

Speaking of favorite Disney comics exclamations, mention must be made of "Wak!". This one is inarguably derived from Donald's squawking in the cartoons, but Barks had HD&L and Scrooge use it as well (the nephews had quacky voices in the cartoons, but does this mean that Barks thought Scrooge did too? Did other Ducks like Grandma and Daisy also use the exclamation in Barks' comics? I'm fairly sure no non-Duck characters did). Another favorite of mine is "Great Honk!" (again, I never heard this outside Barks' work).

On the Mouse side, there's early-Gottfredson Mickey's "F' gosh sakes" (hardly unique to the character) and in (I believe) the Gemstone era, attempts were made to popularize "Great Squeak!" as one of Mickey's catchphrases, which mercifully never caught on (apologies to whoever came up with it, but it just seemed too contrived to me).

My vague memory is that "Great Squeak!" was inflicted on readers by the otherwise-sterling dialoguer Jonathan Gray, in the IDW (A-Team) era. Don't even bring it up when Joe Torcivia is around!

It's possible, though, that Jonathan was picking it up from some earlier usage by someone else.

And Vic Lockman used "Wak! Wak!" as laughter, as I noted a while back:

Due to its mention in the comments on GeoX's "Duck Comics Revue," I was just looking over the last couple of years' posts on your "Disney Comics Reviews," and under the review of "The Inner Earth Adventure" (August 24, 2016) I found a comment by Ramapith including this line: Lockman's ducks all frequently laugh "Wak! Wak! Wak!"

[RobbK1]

Mar 27, 2020 14:13:01 GMT Scroogerello said:

I like “Heavens-to-Betsy!” and “My , Lands O'Goshen!" yells when he accidentally destroys his own safe in “Terror of the Beagle Boys”. Those phrases must have been outdated even when Barks wrote that story.

I also remember “Oh my socks and shoes!” was said in one story (probably “City of the Golden Roofs”).

And yeah, “Wak!” is a classic, too. It’s used in the Dutch stories a lot as well.

Mar 27, 2020 13:52:36 GMT Baar Baar Jinx said:

This one is inarguably derived from Donald's squawking in the cartoons, but Barks had HD&L and Scrooge use it as well (the nephews had quacky voices in the cartoons, but does this mean that Barks thought Scrooge did too?

I don’t think he ever gave much thought to the characters’ voices in comics, but when he wrote a script for a Scrooge cartoon in the 50s, Barks gave Scrooge a “normal” voice for his regular dialogue, but Clarence Nash-type squawking when he’s angry/upset. I think that would’ve worked well, at least for the short cartoon comedy.

“Heavens-to-Betsy!” and "Land O' Goshen!" were very commonly used by the older generations rural farmers in Manitoba and all over the farmlands in Canada and USA still during the 1940s and '50s.  Even many people in middle-age and older in the cities used it.  But, these religious-related phrases were dying out among the younger people.  Our family never used them because we weren't Christians.  So our phrases of exclamation were Yiddish or Dutch.  But, I do remember hearing those 2 phrases a lot from people from my grandparents' generation.

[Scrooge MacDuck]

Not *exactly* an exclamation in the same way as "Ye cats!", but in French translations, Donald frequently calls Huey, Dewey and Louie "you little scorpions!" when he's angry with them, which sounds every bit as strange in French as it does in English, lemme tell you. It's always stuck with me.