Great Scott
Great Scott! is an exclamation of surprise or amazement.
Possible origins
The expression dates back at least to the American Civil War, and may refer to the one-time commander of the U.S. Army, General Winfield Scott. In a May 1861 edition of the New York Times was the sentence:
- These gathering hosts of loyal freemen, under the command of the great SCOTT.
In an 1871 issue of Galaxy magazine, there is:
- ‘Great—Scott!’ he gasped in his stupefaction, using the name of the then commander-in-chief for an oath, as officers sometimes did in those days.
The phrase also appears in the 3 May 1864 diary entry by Private Robert Knox Sneden (later published as Eye of the Storm: a Civil War Odyssey):
- ‘Great Scott,’ who would have thought that this would be the destiny of the Union Volunteer in 1861–2 while marching down Broadway to the tune of ‘John Brown’s Body’.[1]
Another possible origin of the phrase is that people seeking to emulate the German Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha altered and anglicized "Grüß Gott!", or "God bless!" into "Great Scott!". The etymologist and author John Ciardi once believed this, but later recanted in a radio broadcast in 1985. Despite that recantation, the expression is likely to be a minced oath: a mild substitute for invoking the name of God; very possibly derived from the phrase "[by the] grace of God".
Culture
The phrase "Great Scott" was commonly found in superhero comic books, including Superman. Dr. Watson habitually used the expression in the Rathbone-Bruce Sherlock Holmes Films made between 1939 and 1946. The exclamation can also be found in C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia, such as by Digory Kirke in the book The Magician's Nephew, or by Peter in the book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. One of the better-known contemporary uses was as the catchphrase of Doctor Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future film trilogy. Christopher Lloyd, who portrayed Brown in the films, used the expression in TV ads during 2006-2007 which refer back to this role ("Great Scott! I forgot to tell Marty about DirecTV!")
Other occurrences include the television cartoon Sheep in the Big City, which has a character called "Great Scott" who appears every time anyone says the phrase, replying "Ye-e-e-s?". Mr. Wilson, a character in the Dennis the Menace TV series, frequently used the expression. In The Rocky Horror Picture Show, one of the characters is named Dr. Everett von Scott. At one point Brad Majors (played by Barry Bostwick) sees Scott and exclaims, "Great Scott!" This line is typically lampooned by the audience, who often throw toilet paper - a nod to the Scottissue brand. In the movie version of Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, the Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher Gilderoy Lockhart exclaims "Great Scott! Look at the time..."
The phrase is also occasionally used by Hiro Nakamura on the television science-fiction series, Heroes, albeit sometimes in an exaggerated Japanese ("Gureito Sukotto!").
The phrase is used by Michael Scott on the television series, The Office, as his fictional production company at the end of all his mini films for the office.
Members of the scientific community refer to the emerging, young scientist Scott J. Seltzer PhD[2] as "The Great Scott."
Great Scott! was also the name of a now-defunct supermarket chain in the Detroit, Michigan area.
References
- ^ World Wide Words article on the origins of the phrase "Great Scott"
- ^
Seltzer, S. J. and Meares, P. J. and Romalis, M. V. (2007). "Synchronous optical pumping of quantum revival beats for atomic magnetometry". Physical Review A. 75 (5). doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.75.051407.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
"Great Scott, I think I've got it!" From the movie Blithe Spirit staring Rex Harrison and Margaret Rutherford (1945).