What's in a Name?

I awoke at 5:00 am this morning (wishing I could get back to sleep) pondering the name Little Zooks. I was wondering if Edward Gorey bestowed the name to the projectile infant in A Limerick after hearing (or exclaiming himself), "Gadzooks!"

This archaic mild oath is thought to originate in the mid seventeenth century from "God's Hooks", a reference to the nails which held Christ to the cross. Perhaps the Vicar made this exclamation when Little Zooks passed over the rectory.

The image shown above is available as a print from the Edward Gorey House.