"Gadzooks" is similarly a corruption of "God's hooks", referring to the nails on the cross. "(Cor) blimey" = "God blind me", "strewth" = "God's truth", and so on. Lots of garbled/minced profanities of this nature.
Re:Shakespeare’s plays, sonnets, and poems
by AlbertCory on Tuesday June 28, 2022 @06:50PM
(#31914115)
I'd never heard that about Gadzooks.
It was probably beyond the pale to say "Jesus Christ!" back then like we do now.
It meant "by His wounds" and even hearing that you still might not get it. It was a mild form of blasphemy.
"His" of course was Jesus, and "His wounds" were the wounds of crucifixion. So using that as an expression was sorta like cursing, given that various forms of Christianity were practiced by nearly everyone in England.