…and I guess Jesus is pissed off about it. I think? Maybe?
So, on the plane ride home from Las Vegas yesterday, Paul and I were talking about an article that appeared in the Inflight Magazine about something stupid (I don’t even remember what) and I declared “Jeez Louise, this is retarded!”.
I know, I know…. I am such a midwestern lady….
Anyway, it got me wondering. Why do people say this?
Why did I say it?
On the plane, I speculated to Paul that at some point there must have been a lady somewhere named “Louise” who was constantly doing stupid things that pissed people off around her.
Maybe she was a klutz and was breaking things. Or perhaps she lacked social skills and was constantly making offensive statements. I imagined that this “Louise” must have had some sort of superficial or monetary power over people. Her family and friends would always wish they could just slap her or simply stop spending time with her, but they had no choice. If they wanted that inheritance (or something), they would just have to stick it out…. So, in order to deal with their frustation over the situation, they would simply mutter “Jeez Louise…” under their breath everytime she annoyed them…
“How exciting!” I thought. “I can’t wait to get home and do some research. This ‘Louise’ person must be absolutely fascinating!”
And then…… I was totally bummed.
I found out that the root of the saying dates back to the early 20′s. The word “Jeez” is just a slang form of “Jesus” that people used in order to not get in trouble for using the lord’s name in vain. And the name Louise was just picked because it rhymed… BORING!
