drat
/drat
/exclamation (often drat someone/something)
A fairly mild expression of anger or annoyance: ‘Oh, drat Feargal and his suspicions!’...
- She'd been obsessed with him, ever since, ever since… Oh I don't know, drat!
- ‘Oh, drat,’ I muttered, doing my Victor Meldrew impression.
- Drat and double drat - no AA batteries in the house.
Derivatives
dratted
/ adjective ...- There's no telling with the dratted things but they cling to life with a tenacity not unlike chewing gum trodden into carpet pile and it's more likely that it'll spring into life somewhere around the end of April, beginning of May.
- Second, if something is too dangerous for the poor I still don't see why it's not too dangerous for the rich - either ban the dratted things or treat them like other schools.
- You'll be justified in shooting the leaping, slavering, fanged attack dog, even if it would have been best if you'd never poked the dratted thing in the first place.
Origin
Early 19th century: shortening of od rat, euphemism for God rot.
This is a shortening of the phrase ‘od rat’, a euphemism for God rot.