daggum
A soft stand-in for goddamn, used for fuss or emphasis.
Also called dadgum, dad-gum.
Updated September 21, 2026
daggum pronunciation
/DAG-um/
Meaning
Daggum (also dadgum) is how rural Southern mouths dodge a full cuss and still sound peeved. That daggum truck. A daggum good biscuit. Daggum it when the nail bends. It works as adjective, adverb, or little outburst. Same minced-oath family as dadburn and doggone. Church folks and ball coaches both reach for it.
How folks use it
- “I can't get this daggum lawnmower started.”
- “Daggum, that was a good pot of chili.”
Origin and etymology
American euphemism for goddamn, often explained as a spoonerism or soft reshaping of the stronger curse. Dadgum and daggum are spelling variants of the same word. Common in Southern and rural U.S. talk from the 1800s onward. Not about anyone's dad.
Frequently asked questions
Is daggum different from dadgum?
Same word, different spelling. Folks write what they hear. Both mean a mild goddamn.