ratsint.
/rats/, U.S. /ræts/ colloquial.
Expressing frustration, disappointment, or annoyance; ‘drat’, ‘blast’; (also) expressing incredulity or disagreement; ‘rubbish’, ‘nonsense’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > absence of meaning > nonsense, rubbish > nonsense! [interjection]
strawc1412
tilly-vallya1529
flam-flirt1590
fiddlestick1600
fiddle-faddle1671
stuff1701
snuff1725
fudge1766
fiddlededeea1784
rats1816
havers1825
humbug1825
gammon1827
rubbish1839
pickles1846
rot1846
skittle1864
slush1869
flapdoodle1878
quatsch1907
phooey1908
tommyrot1931
balls1938
no shit1939
bollocks1940
phonus-bolonus1955
hockey1961
leave it out!1969
the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > oaths other than religious or obscene > imprecations
woeOE
dahetc1290
confoundc1330
foul (also shame) fall ——c1330
sorrow on——c1330
in the wanianda1352
wildfirea1375
evil theedomc1386
a pestilence on (also upon)c1390
woe betide you (also him, her, etc.)c1390
maldathaita1400
murrainc1400
out ona1415
in the wild waning worldc1485
vengeance?a1500
in a wanion1549
with a wanion1549
woe worth1553
a plague on——a1566
with a wanion to?c1570
with a wanyand1570
bot1584
maugre1590
poxa1592
death1593
rot1594
rot on1595
cancro1597
pax1604
pize on (also upon)1605
vild1605
peascod1606
cargo1607
confusion1608
perditiona1616
(a) pest upon1632
deuce1651
stap my vitals1697
strike me blind, dumb, lucky (if, but—)1697
stop my vitals1699
split me (or my windpipe)1700
rabbit1701
consume1756
capot me!1760
nick me!1760
weary set1788
rats1816
bad cess to1859
curse1885
hanged1887
buggeration1964
1816 Sporting Mag. May 90/1 The facetious George Selwyn was accustomed..to exclaim—‘Pshaw! Rats!’ when he desired to express his dissatisfaction or contempt at any thing which was said in his presence.
1886 Lantern (New Orleans) 20 Oct. 5/2 What a rotten game. Rats!
1897 Outing 30 484/1 ‘A miss, by Jove’. ‘Oh, rats’, cries another onlooker.
1914 G. B. Shaw Misalliance 23 Mrs. Tarleton. Dont boast, John. Dont tempt Providence. Tarleton. Rats! You dont understand Providence. Providence likes to be tempted.
1951 J. Cornish Provincials i. ii. 21 ‘I don't kiss girls,’ I said hurriedly. ‘I never kiss girls. Never.’ ‘Oh, rats!’
1976 National Observer (U.S.) 21 Feb. 9/2 About a day later another letter from the company turned up in my mailbox. Rats, I thought, they have discovered their mistake and are going to take all the fun out of my life.
1990 Sun (Brisbane) 1 Nov. 34 (cartoon caption) ‘Yaah! A rubber spider!’ ‘Rats, I didn't fool him.’
2003 C. Birch Turn again Home ix. 122 ‘I don't feel like going out,’ Nell said. ‘It's ruined everything.’ ‘Rats,’ said Kitty briskly. ‘Do you good to get out.’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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int.1816