a pox on
English
Etymology
Originally an expression of abuse to wish that someone develop pocks, that is to say, contract pox. Though pox can range from smallpox to chickenpox to cowpox to syphilis, this expression almost always referred to the last one, the Great Pox.
Interjection
- (archaic, offensive) To express curses upon (somebody), when irked or wroth, as though wishing someone "a pox".
- c. 1610-11, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act I scene i:
- A pox o' your throat, you bawling, blasphemous, incharitable dog!
- c. 1610-11, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act I scene i:
- (humorous, said alternatively with of) To hell with (abstract or unalive things).
- c. 1595-96, William Shakespeare, Love's Labour Lost, Act V scene ii:
- A pox of that jest! and I beshrew all shrows.
- c. 1603, William Shakespeare, Othello, Act I scene iii:
- […] A pox of drowning thyself!
- c. 1595-96, William Shakespeare, Love's Labour Lost, Act V scene ii:
Synonyms
- (a pox on): woe betide, fie upon, to hell with
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.