Nerts

Part of speech: interjection, noun

Definitions

1. A fast-paced card game in which players race to empty their own tableau pile first ; a mild exclamation used to reject something or dismiss someone's claim
2. A quick card game where each player tries to play out their stack before the others ; a informal interjection expressing scorn, refusal or disbelief
3. The name of a rapid card game played with two decks and a race to finish ; a casual expression of contempt or rejection, similar to saying nonsense

Etymology: "Nerts" is an American euphemism, and its history is a small case of deliberate softening. The base word is "nuts," which in its slang sense of "crazy" or "worthless" (and as an exclamation of disgust) was already in use, but "nuts" also carried a vulgar undertone because it could refer to the testicles. Speakers who wanted the scornful bite without the coarseness altered the spelling, swapping the final "s" and "t" to produce "nerts." The result is a word that sounds like an insult but was built precisely so that it would not offend. It works the way many mild exclamations do: the listener hears the force of the expression while the speaker keeps it clean enough for polite company.

Synonyms: nuts, phooey