The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #114361   Message #2439994
Posted By: dick greenhaus
14-Sep-08 - 11:32 AM
Thread Name: BS: When did 'forbid' become 'forfend'?
Subject: RE: BS: When did 'forbid' become 'forfend'?
I've used the phrase "Heaven forfend!" since the middle 1940's. Got it from Shakespeare. Another somewhat archaic construction I've been fond of is "idiotry"--somehow it seems more emphatic than idiocy.

BTW, Discombooberate" seems to be a corruption of the earlier "discombobulate". Anyone familiar with the word's background?