23-07-2023, 04:46 PM
(23-07-2023, 04:22 PM)Anton wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Exactly, no thematic connection. That's exactly what Hughes (quoted by Schwerhoff) is writing about in the quote that I cited.I guess pox is not intended to mean God, it is intended to substitute God. When one exclaims "for shit's sake!", shit is not assumed to mean "God", it just is brought in to substitute God.
Usually when a word is replaced by one thematically disconnected, they will sound similar, and the similar sound (usually the vowel) will drive the replacement.
Fuck -> fudge
Damn -> darn
God -> gosh
Jesus -> jeez
Christ -> Crikey
French sacré Dieux -> sacré bleu
The sacré bleu is a good example.
Dieux -> bleu
Gotts -> pox
Here's a whole list in English: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
So I think "pox [body part]" is a good example of a minced oath. Whether or not we call it like that has no effect on the interpretation of the VM fragment, of course, this is merely about terminology.
Anyway, after having gone through various stages of conviction and research, I am currently with Rene on this. We know that the marginalia writer did have recipes of some kind on his mind when writing "so nim...", so there is some positive indication for the literal liver interpretation to fit in the same context. Additionally, I don't think it's very likely that a literate scribe will write down the kind of expletive usually reserved for boorish, ridiculous or rejectable characters in carnival plays. I do agree that we can't rule out either interpretation, but literal liver has a stronger case right now.