In the UK it is more just an expression of anger, and has long since lost the majority of its ability to offend people. You should always be careful, just in case the person still thinks it means "to be sentenced to hell for all eternity". But it is relatively harmless in secular society, especially when used as a simple expression (as in "Damn!") of anger.
No. The use of "so" emphasises the extent of the richness. "You are damn rich" equates to "you are very rich". "You are so so damn rich" equates to "you are unbelievably rich". In some instances it may contain an implicit inference: "you are so damn rich you don't understand how hard it is for poor people."
Damned would likely be more correct, or damnably, but I think damn works, at least on a colloquial level.
That was true in the past. But going back to at least the 19th century in America, it lost the inflection and "damn" became an adjective. The Confederates called the Northerners "Damnyankees"--and many of them still do.
The Free Dictionary gives "damned" as an intensive but not "damn" apart from the idiom "damn well". You could say "Damn this rain!" or "Curse this damned rain!" but not vice versa. damned (dămd) adj. damned·er (dăm′dər), damned·est (dăm′dĭst) 1. a. In various religions, condemned to eternal punishment. b. Destined to an unhappy fate: "His pedagogy is Puritan, fashioned around an enlightened elect. Outsiders are damned to the darkness of ignorance" (Molly Worthen). "He never did give Iris that gift. He was saved from doing it—or damned to leave it undone—because of the cataclysm that befell a dear friend of hers" (Philip Roth). 2. Informal Deserving condemnation; detestable: this damned weather. 3. Used as an intensive: a damned fool. adv. damneder, damnedest Used as an intensive: a damned poor excuse. n. (used with a pl. verb) People who are damned considered as a group. damn (dăm) v. damned, damn·ing, damns v.tr. 1. a. To condemn to everlasting punishment or another terrible fate in the afterlife; doom: "the ancient belief thatsouls of the deceased who had been damned for certain sins could rise from their graves and wander thecountryside between dusk and dawn" (Rudy Chelminski). b. To condemn to an undesirable fate; destine: was damned to live out his life in poverty. c. To bring about the failure of; ruin: Insufficient funding damned the project. 2. To denounce or criticize severely: a movie that was damned by the critics. 3. To swear at; curse. v.intr. To swear; curse. interj. Used to express anger, irritation, contempt, or disappointment. n. 1. The saying of "damn" as a curse. 2. Informal The least valuable bit; a jot: not worth a damn. adv. & adj. Damned. Idiom: damn well Without any doubt; positively: I am damn well going to file charges against him.
In America we use it much more widely than that. "Damn straight" is a common way of telling someone that what he just said is not only correct, but critically important. But we use it much more widely as an adjective: You're a damn fool for riding your motorcycle without a helmet. That new professor is such a damn idiot, I don't understand why they hired him. The damn Russians seem to think that the Ukraine is still a Soviet republic. The damn raccoons got into the trash again last night and strewed it all over the lawn.
Not just praised, but highly praised. Acclaim (a noun) is widely publicized. Almost everyone who is in a position to bestow or withhold acclaim agrees that the recipient is worthy of it, in order for someone/something to be described as "acclaimed."
in cahoots with = must be plural "cahoots"? Does it always mean doing something bad? Can it be doing something good?
The dictionary says that "in cahoot" (singular) is sometimes used, but in 71 years I've never seen it written or heard it said that way. The dictionary says that it can be used either way, but, again, I have always heard it used derogatorily; if two people are "in cahoots," it's the same thing as saying that they are conspiring to do something evil. In fact, the dictionary says that "in cahoots" is often just another way to say "in conspiracy." The origin of the word is unclear. The most likely source is the French word cohorte, from which we get our word "cohort." This makes sense because if you are in cahoots with someone, you are cohorts. But no one knows for sure. There is a lot of French influence in Louisiana, since it was originally a French colony. Perhaps that's where it comes from.
It's the abbreviation for numéro, the French word for "number." We borrowed it several centuries ago. Even the word itself, "number," comes from French. Ultimately it comes from Latin numerus.
Very often "in cahoots" is used of two people engaged in some sneaky activity that they are not revealing. You would say "Those two are in cahoots". It is an amusing sounding idiom, usually said when the consequences of the plot are fairly harmless.
