A mild curse word or exclamation meaning 'confounded' or 'damned'; used to express annoyance or emphasis in a socially acceptable way.
From the word 'deuce' (the two in playing cards or dice, from French 'deux' meaning 'two'). The 'deuced' expression likely emerged as a euphemism to avoid stronger profanity, with 'deuced' becoming British slang by the 18th-19th centuries.
Victorians used 'deuced' constantly in novels as a genteel way to express frustration without actually swearing—it's the ancestor of modern euphemisms like 'freaking' or 'bleeding,' showing how every generation invents polite cursing.
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