bad cess

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English

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Etymology

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Uncertain. Occurs in print at least as early as 1831, when Samuel Lover used the expression as one already long-established. He unambiguously stated the derivation of cess in the malediction bad cess to be an abbreviation of success.[1] OED speculated that it either was from success or from assessment meaning a military or governmental exaction.[2]

Noun

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bad cess (uncountable)

  1. (British, Ireland) Bad luck, failure, or evil befalling.
    • 1831, Samuel Lover, Legends and Stories of Ireland:
      ...and so says the king to himself, "the divil receave the dhrop of that wine they shall get," says he, "... bad cess to the dhrop," says he, "my big-bellied bishop, to nourish your jolly red nose..."
    • 1834, Samuel Lover, Legends and Stories of Ireland:
      Bad cess to me, but it's too provokin', so it is; — and why couldn't you tell me so at wanst?
    • 1836, Philip Dixon Hardy, Legends, Tales, and Stories of Ireland:
      Bad cess to the villains, but it's themselves that put me into the hobble, the thievin' rogues of the world.
    • 1963, Michael Farrell, Thy Tears Might Cease[1], Hutchinson:
      Seen it with the ould Canal Company, bad cess to them, and all. People are decent enough in ones and twos, and maybe even threes, but they're worse than a lot of bad-mannered dogs when they band together into a crowd.

Usage notes

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Commonly used in the form bad cess to — , typically as:

  • an oath: "Bad cess to me", equivalent to "I'll be damned if...", or
  • a malediction:"Bad cess to the villains", equivalent to "damn them", or
  • contemptuous dismissal or denial: "... bad cess to the dhrop", as in "forget the drop, there will not be one!".

References

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  1. ^ Lover, Samuel: Legends and Stories of Ireland. 1831 Publishers Wakeman, Dublin; Baldwin and Cradock, London; Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh.
  2. ^ Murray, J.A.H. The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (2 vols). Publisher: Oxford University Press. 1971. ISBN: 978-0198611172