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Gammerstang commented on the word bless the mark
God save the mark This parenthetic phrase can be used as an exclamation of contempt, impatience, or derision; as a formula spoken to avert an evil omen; or as a phrase serving to soften or lessen the offensiveness of something said. Contrary to popular belief that this expression was originally used by archers, it is now believed to have been originally used by midwives at the birth of a child bearing a “mark.” Shakespeare popularized the phrase and its variant bless the mark in his plays.
He had not been there (bless the mark) a pissing while, but all the chamber smelt him. (Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen of Verona, 1591)
In modern use, save the mark is most often heard as an ironic expression of contempt.
The crisis of apathetic melancholy … from which he emerged by the reading of Marmontel’s Memoirs (Heaven save the mark!) and Wordsworth’s poetry. (William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, 1902)
January 27, 2018