Recently, I asked my Twitter followers for help thinking of substitutes for curse words. My work-in-progress featured a former clergyman as the male lead, and I felt confident that he would not use actual profanity when talking to his love interest. My followers came through with a vengeance, and collectively, we produced this list of possible profanity alternatives for historical fiction. I’m posting it here in case it might be of use to anyone else!

Botheration

Confound it

Blast

The deuce

By George

By Jove

Jupiter Ammon

Heavens!

Good gracious

Gracious me

Dash it all

Blooming

Criminy

Zounds

Lawks

Pon rep

By thunder

Thunder and turf

Tare and ‘ounds

Devil take it

To the devil with it

Fiend seize it

Gadzooks

Egads

Blazes (“go to blazes”)

Oh, cabbages! (or anything else funny)

Hang it all

Dog-Bother it!