• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Language / Where does the term “Go-Devil” come from and What does Go Devil mean?

Where does the term “Go-Devil” come from and What does Go Devil mean?

July 8, 2020 by Karen Hill

We think our American male ancestors of a hundred-odd years ago took keen delight in playing with the word devil.

It sounded just short of a swear word, and probably annoyed their wives.

At least it is certain that farmers especially took to calling various mechanical implements which, in early stages of development, acted erratically or mysteriously, go-devils.

Or perhaps, through comparative speed, because they went “like the devil.”

How many of such were so called is now uncertain, but the name was early applied to corn cultivators, hay rakes, road scrapers, snow plows, logging sleds, and later in other fields to instruments for clearing pipes of obstructions, to explosive devices in oil-well drilling, to handcars, etc., etc.

Related Facts

  • Where Does Corn Syrup Come From and How Is Corn Syrup Made?
  • How did the Tasmanian Devil get its Name and Where does it Come From?
  • Where does the term “devil’s darning needle” come from and What does devil’s-darning-needle mean?
  • Where Does the Tasmanian Devil Live and Is There Really an Animal Called the Tasmanian Devil?
  • Where does the expression “the devil to pay” come from and What does it mean?
  • Where Did Corn Come From?

Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « Where does the phrase “Son of Belial” come from and What does Son of Belial mean?
Next Post: Where does the word “Cofferdam” come from and What does Cofferdam mean? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2020 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy