botheration meaning (dated): definition, etymology and quotations

botheration

intj

UK /ˌbɒðəˈɹeɪʃn̩/ · US /ˌbɑðəˈɹeɪʃ(ə)n/

Etymology From bother + -ation (suffix indicating an action or process, or its result).

Dated, Humorous, Often A mild expression of annoyance or exasperation: bother!

"Botheration ! Who cares ? Why don't you ask if [our ancestors] carried pocket-books ?"1891, “A Live Issue”, in Puck, page 5:
Botheration! How she had crumpled her skirt, kneeling in that idiotic way.1918, Katherine Mansfield, "Prelude" in Selected Stories, Oxford World's Classics paperback, 2002, p. 120

1 more example

"Blast and botheration!" exclaimed Digory. "What's gone wrong now? [...]"1955, C. S. Lewis, chapter 3, in The Magician's Nephew, Collins, published 1998:

noun

Etymology From bother + -ation (suffix indicating an action or process, or its result).

Dated, Humorous, Often The state of being bothered; annoyance, vexation.

1803, William Blake, Letter to his brother James Blake dated 30 January, 1803, in The Poetry and Prose of William Blake, edited by David V. Erdman, New York: Doubleday Anchor, 1970, p. 696, I write in great haste & with a head full of botheration about various projected works …
[...] I am determined to be peevish after my long day's botheration.1859, Charles Dickens, chapter 21, in A Tale of Two Cities:

1 more example

At home he read too many papers. He was better off without his daily dose of world botheration, sham happenings, without newspaper phrases.1982, Saul Bellow, chapter 4, in The Dean's December, New York: Pocket Books, published 1983, page 59:

Dated, Humorous, Often An act of bothering or annoying.

Dated, Humorous, Often A person or thing that causes bother, inconvenience, trouble, etc.

[...] the by-products and botherations that go with pleasures make it hardly worth it. Sex is supposedly life's greatest pleasure and look what it gives you.1954, Peter De Vries, chapter 6, in The Tunnel of Love, New York: Popular Library, page 63: