so-and-so, you

   Normally a euphemism for a word like ‘bastard’ when used as a friendly insult. Black Saturday, by Alexander McKee, has: ‘There was a delighted shout of “Oh, it’s you, you fat old so-and-so.”’ In The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D.Salinger, a woman calls the younger brother of a friend ‘you little so-andso’. Her jokey tone is shown by her remark: ‘Tell your big brother I hate him, when you see him,’ since she means just the opposite. ‘You dirty young so-and-so’ is addressed to a young Australian football player in A Salute to the Great McCarthy, by Barry Oakley. A Kind of Loving, by Stan Barstow, has: ‘I won him over.’ ‘Like you’ve been winning him over all your life, you old so and so.’ ‘You dirty minded old so-and-so’ is insulting when used in The Liberty Man, by Gillian Freeman.