Answer: damn vs. dam

[chiroho.livejournal.com]

Question: What is the difference between "damn" and "dam"?

With examples from Stargate: SG1.

Did you ever hear the story about the engineer who dies and goes to hell?

I'm not going to tell you the joke, though if you're really interested you can go and read it here, but it is the first thing which came to mind when I saw this question -- I could just imagine the engineer who had been damned building a big dam and various other conveniences to make things more liveable "down under", as it were. And while it is a joke, this thought does provide a simple example of the differences between the two similar words.

In our most common usage today, a dam is body of water confined by a barrier, or a form of barrier preventing the flow of water, or something more solid like sand, dirt, or snow. Dams exist all over the world and are used for things like hydroelectric power generation, irrigation, storing drinking water, or all of the above. In this sense, dam is a noun. An example of this form of dam is:

Teal'c stared up at the immensity of the Hoover Dam.

Dam can also be used as a transitive verb to describe the process of restraining the flow of water. For example:

"If we use some C4 below that ledge, we'll be able to bring it down and dam the river, flooding the Goa'uld stronghold."

By contrast, damn is all about condemning someone or something, most particularly condemning to hell. In this sense it can also be a curse word. The following demonstrates that usage by one of Jack O'Neill's many enemies:

"Damn you, O'Neill! You'll pay for your temerity one day!"

You can also use damn as an adjective or adverb. Uncle George does that here:

"These Replicators are a damned nuisance, Jack. Isn't there any way to permanently destroy them?"

The last usage of damn is as a noun, where it generally means a very small amount. Just about everyone has heard of this, most famous, and certainly not Stargate: SG1 related, example:

"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

Hopefully that helps clarify the usage of these two similar words with quite different meanings. I'm now going to go and see whether my boss still gives a damn about the report he wanted completed last week.

Sources
Definitions are from Merriam-Webster OnLine

Comments

[chiroho.livejournal.com]

There appears to be some contention as to whether the expression is "tinker's dam" or "tinker's damn", because there is a much older expression "tinker's cuss" which I think was first recorded in the 1820s, and is an expression I remember hearing a long time ago. It's also something which was recorded earlier than "tinker's dam", and it seems more logical that "I don't give a tinker's cuss" migrated to "I don't give a tinker's damn", because "cuss" and "damn" are both related to curse words - and apparently tinkers were known for their extensive vocabulary when it came to swearing. Most of what I found online also suggests that "tinker's dam" was really just a little polishing of the older expression "tinker's damn" to make it sound a touch more appealing.

Additionally, what I've read suggests that "not worth a damn" is a much older expression anyway. And if you think about the expression, what it probably means is that it's not worth the energy to condemn someone, hence they're "not worth a condemnation", so I think that it does make sense used in that way.

[diebirchen.livejournal.com]

I mentioned somewhere in here that a tinker's dam is a small metal well in which solder is kept while the tinker is, well, tinkering, fixing pots and pans. It is a small insignificant thing though. I think, though I could be wrong, that tinker's DAMN is a changing of the older DAM, since most people don't really know what a tinker is, let alone a tinker's dam.

[chiroho.livejournal.com]

While I have read about the "tinker's dam" being some clay they used as a well around solder, I've also read that this seems much more likely to be a folk tale made up to support a change in spelling, as the first recorded usage of "tinker's dam" is from the 1870s, while "tinker's damn" is first recorded in the 1820s, and "tinker's cuss" before that. So consensus seems to suggest that it's actually the other way around - tinker's DAM is a changing of the older tinker's DAMN.

At least that's what I've been able to find in doing some searching online. :)