What's "Cor" mean

[Carol]

Sharon:
> it means "Wow", something that is really good and unexpected. I'm
not sure of the derivation but I had always thought it was one of
those expressions that didn't really start out as a word but is
written as "Cor". Similar to "Ugh" I suppose.  However if anyone DOES
know its derivation (Carol??) I love to know as well.

Carol responds:
I'm not British, so I'm probably the wrong person to ask. I originally
thought that if might have something to do with the Latin word "cor"
meaning "heart" ("cor cordium" is "heart of hearts"; English
derivatives of "cor" include "cordial" and "courage" (oddly,
"coronary" derives from "corona," meaning "crown"). 

However, it appears that I was wrong. I checked one of my bookmarked
sites for the origin of the expression "cor blimey" (quintessential
Cockney, if I'm not mistaken) and found this information:

"Cor blimey

"Meaning[:] An exclamation of surprise.

"Origin[:] A euphemism (specifically a minced oath) derived from 'God
blind me'.

"First recorded in print in Barrère and Leland's A dictionary of
slang, jargon and cant 1888–90, 1897.

"An alternative spelling was used, slightly earlier, by Arthur
Morrison in "A child of the Jago," 1896: "Gawblimy, not what?"

"It is also sometimes spelled gorblimey."

I found similar, less detailed information on other websites.

So "cor" by itself is either short for "cor blimey" or is a mild
euphemism for "God" used as an oath, as "Gee" is an (American?)
euphemism for "Jesus" used as an oath. It's probably equally
innocuous. BTW, I wonder whether Ron knows that "blimey" is a
corruption of "blind me." Maybe he wouldn't use it quite so often if
he knew what it meant.

Alternatively, my favorite "English to American" website has 

"cor expl[etive] ooh! Once a part of the phrase "cor blimey", this is
now used on its own to mean something like "ooh!". And here was you
thinking that was some sort of typo."

and 

"cor blimey expl[etive] a rather older-fashioned term of surprise,
which has mostly migrated these days into just "blimey" or, more
rarely, "cor"."

While this explanation is humorous (and aimed at Americans), it
neglects the "God blind me" etymology, perhaps suggesting that those
who use the expression (e.g., our friend Ron and some of Harry's other
"mates") are unaware of the origins and know only that it reflects
surprise.

Carol, ready to have her explanations demolished by the Brits on the list