An archaic oath or exclamation, shortened from 'God's' and used in older English literature.
From Early Modern English, a shortening and euphemistic alteration of oaths like 'God's bodkins' or 'God's wounds,' where the speaker removed 'God' to avoid blasphemy. Common in 16th-18th century English.
People said 'ods' instead of saying 'God's' because saying God's name in vain was literally illegal in some places—it's a perfect example of how language rules created this weird system of code words and abbreviations that's basically untraceable now.
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