Third person singular or plural of 'durn,' a mild oath or expression of frustration used as a substitute for a stronger curse word.
Durn is a euphemistic alteration of 'darn,' which itself is a softened version of 'damn.' It emerged in American English as a way to express annoyance while maintaining politeness in mixed company.
Durns is a perfect example of how language creates workarounds for taboo words—every culture develops mild oaths to swear without actually swearing, and 'durn' shows how creative English speakers got before the internet gave us unlimited replacement words.
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