Damndest thing In the following context, a talking machine that can only say one word is on the fire and its owner goes into the fire to rescue it, but he is not successful. Does "Damndest thing, though... it got the last word" mean 1. "the worst thing that, when I reached it, it was saying its last words"? or 2. "surprisingly, when I reached it, it was saying the same word for the last time"? Context: when I arrived the fire had already reached it. There was nothing I could do. Damndest thing, though... it got the last word.