great Scott

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great Scott

/ɡɹeɪt skɒt/

Where it comes from

Uncertain or disputed. May come from either the Scottish novelist Walter Scott, so called in some poems, or Gen. Winfield Scott of the American Civil War, who weighed about 300 pounds and was referred to by his troops as "Great Scott". Alternately, perhaps a corruption of German grüß Gott! (“Good day!, Hello!”, literally “May God greet (thee)!”), or a euphemism for great Satan or good God.

interjection great Scot

dated An exclamation of surprise or amazement Don’t understand? Land of—why, you see—you see—why, great Scott, can’t you understand a little thing like that? Can’t you understand the difference between your—why do you look so innocent and idiotic!
Similar: wow

Translations

Every language

intj exclamation of surprise or amazement

日本語	何だる事だ nandaru koto da
Français	nom de Zeus
Italiano	diamine, cospetto, perbacco, per Bacco baccone, per Bacco bacchissimo

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MLA

"great Scott." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/great%20scott. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

great Scott. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/great%20scott

Chicago

"great Scott." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/great%20scott.

BibTeX

@misc{great_scott_2026,
  title = {great Scott},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/great%20scott},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}