A mirage of an expletive

[iad58]

Say what you wish, English is an eminently amazing and amusing language. And one of the best parts, to my mind, are its expletives. Not that other languages have none, but English is unusually creative. The way grammar rules are dashed to pieces. The ways the mention of the deity is concealed, and all the ungodly substitutions. Why, the very fact that my on its own can have the power of an expletive speaks volumes. And I still remember, 17 years after the deed, how I squealed with wonder and delight when I first saw omigod (< oh, my God) written as a single word.

A few minutes ago, browsing an English translation of Wilhelm Hauff's fairy tales, I thought I had discovered another marvel of an expletive, an expression composed of a possessive pronoun and the name of an animal. Alas, it turned out that it was not an exclamation but a mere form of address, justified in the context, and its appearance was an artefact of hyphenation. But it was so likely!

I won't reveal it just yet—maybe someone can guess what it was?

---

[A day later:] Guessed by hyalma.

Comments

[hyalma.livejournal.com]

Pigmy?

100%

[iad.livejournal.com]

The cook now tasted in his turn, and, shaking the dwarf with reverence by the hand, said to him, “Pig- my, you are a master of your profession! That Magen- trost does indeed impart a unique and miraculous flavor to the entire compound.”

[stasss.livejournal.com]

А перенос сохранен?

[iad.livejournal.com]

Да-да, разумеется, все как в книге. (Именно из-за дефиса я прочел слово сперва как «pig-my!».) Книга есть в Google Books, кстати: Arabian Days' Entertainments (by Wilhelm Hauff, translated by Herbert Pelham Curtis), стр. 173.