Shucks

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ʃʌks/

Definitions

1. To express mild disappointment or annoyance, often in a playful manner
2. To remove the outer covering from corn or other vegetables, commonly referred to as husking
3. An informal exclamation used to downplay a situation or to indicate something is not significant

Etymology: "Shucks" is a minced oath, a softened stand-in for a stronger word, and its root is "shuck," meaning something valueless. The original sense was concrete: a shuck is the husk or shell of a nut, pea or ear of corn, the part discarded once the useful contents have been removed. Calling something a shuck meant calling it worthless, and the word came to be used for anything of little account. Over time the noun was turned into an interjection of mild exasperation, the sort of thing a person says in place of a harsher exclamation. The plural form "shucks" carries that same sense of brushing something aside as trivial, which is why it sounds so gentle today.

Synonyms: shells, husk, peels