Careful Words

damn (n.)

damn (v.)

damn (adv.)

damn (adj.)

Abuses me to damn me.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Hamlet. Act ii. Sc. 2.

Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer,

And without sneering teach the rest to sneer;

Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike,

Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot. Prologue to the Satires. Line 201.

  Would you damn your precious soul?

Martin Luther (1483-1546): Works. Book iv. Chap. liv.