dash it
- idiom
- Archaic
:
¡maldita sea!
- Oh, dash it all to heck!
Examples
-
Dash it, Becky.
-
I mean, dash it, war cannot all be misery!
-
Oh, dash it!
-
"Dash it all."
Fiction book (2002) -
Oh, dash it! I forgot my keys again.
-
Dash it all! The meeting was canceled at the last minute. dash it
-
I tried to fix it, but dash it, nothing worked.
Synonyms
∞
6.7
Said to show anger, surprise or annoyance
422
7.5
A small amount of care or worry about something
45
7.6
People say it to show impatience or anger
33
9.9
A very rude phrase people say to show strong anger or annoyance
21
9.0
Shows someone is annoyed, impatient, or in a hurry when spoken
17
8.4
A short phrase people say when they feel frustrated or disappointed
15
8.4
A short angry cry people say when they feel annoyed or frustrated
14
9.9
A strong rude shout people use when they feel very angry or shocked
7
9.5
A short spoken word people use to show mild annoyance or disappointment
1
8.6
A mild word people use to show they are annoyed about something
1
9.9
A short cry showing that you are upset or annoyed
1
9.9
People say a strong angry word when they feel very annoyed
1
9.0
A short word people say to show mild anger, surprise, or frustration
1
9.9
A short cry people say when they feel frustrated or annoyed
1
9.9
A short phrase people say when they are annoyed
A short angry word people say when they feel a little annoyed
Feeling a little angry or annoyed about something
An old mild word people say when they are annoyed
How Annoyed
Surface Forms
Morphology
dash + it
This is a conventionalized interjection—a minced oath historically replacing 'damn it'—used to express annoyance; its exclamatory meaning is not compositionally derived from the literal senses of 'dash' + 'it'. A B1 learner who knows the individual words would not reliably infer this fixed idiomatic use, so the expression is opaque.
Etymology
Dash it comes from times when people wanted to avoid the stronger swear 'damn it' and used dash as a softer word instead. That's why dash it now means 'to show mild annoyance or frustration'.