bad cess

Uncertain. Occurs in print at least as early as 1831, when Samuel Lover used the expression as one already long-established. He unambiguously stated the derivation of cess in the malediction bad cess to be an abbreviation of success.[1] OED speculated that it either was from success or from assessment meaning a military or governmental exaction.[2]

bad cess (uncountable)

1. (Britain, Ireland) Bad luck, failure, or evil befalling.
   • 1831, Samuel Lover, Legends and Stories of Ireland:

     ...and so says the king to himself, "the divil receave the dhrop of that wine they shall get," says he, "... bad cess to the dhrop," says he, "my big-bellied bishop, to nourish your jolly red nose..."

   • 1834, Samuel Lover, Legends and Stories of Ireland:

     Bad cess to me, but it's too provokin', so it is; — and why couldn't you tell me so at wanst?

   • 1836, Philip Dixon Hardy, Legends, Tales, and Stories of Ireland:

     Bad cess to the villains, but it's themselves that put me into the hobble, the thievin' rogues of the world.

   • 1963, Michael Farrell, Thy Tears Might Cease‎, Hutchinson:

     Seen it with the ould Canal Company, bad cess to them, and all. People are decent enough in ones and twos, and maybe even threes, but they're worse than a lot of bad-mannered dogs when they band together into a crowd.

Commonly used in the form bad cess to — , typically as:

• an oath: "Bad cess to me", equivalent to "I'll be damned if...", or
• a malediction:"Bad cess to the villains", equivalent to "damn them", or
• contemptuous dismissal or denial: "... bad cess to the dhrop", as in "forget the drop, there will not be one!".