Who, or what, is "Zark" in the Hitchhiker's Guide series? When did it, he, or she originate, and what does the word "zark" refer to?
The first time I remember {it / him / her} being mentioned is on page 360 (of the Ultimate Guide, the beginning of chapter 9 of Life, the Universe, and Everything):
[The door said:] "It is my pleasure to open for you..."
[Zaphod:] "Zark off."
"...and my satisfaction to close with the knowledge of a job well done."
"I said zark off."
"Zark" is then used several times throughout the rest of the series. For example, in Mostly Harmless:
[Ford:] "An RW6, for Zark's sake. I've got this great relationship going now between my credit card and the Guide's central computer. You would not believe that ship, Arthur, it's..." (page 768 in the Ultimate Guide, chapter 18)
I know that I've seen it mentioned elsewhere in the series, but I can't find any other references right now.
The capitalization in the quote from Mostly Harmless suggests that Zark is a person, humanoid, creature, or at least a proper noun of some sort. If this is true, I don't recall Zark (I'm just going to give up on the pronoun game at this point) ever being mentioned as a person or other creature elsewhere in the book.
Is this just a creative replacement for a certain other word that has the same length and ends with the same letter? Or is it a reference to someone or something, fictional or real?
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