Englishfor goodness' sake
Meaning: A mild exclamation of annoyance, surprise or urgency.
Example: “For goodness' sake, put on a coat; it's freezing.”
Origin: "For the sake of" is documented in English as far back as around 1200, and "for God's sake" specifically follows by the early 1300s — an appeal invoking God's name to add weight to a request or an outburst. "For goodness' sake" softens that same religious oath into something safer to say aloud, swapping out the literal name of God for the abstract virtue "goodness" instead, first recorded in exactly this phrase in the early 1600s. What began as a literal appeal — for the sake of everything decent and good — hardened over time into a stock exclamation of frustration or disbelief, its original literal sense mostly forgotten by anyone using it today.
More English idioms
- forty winks A short sleep, usually during the day.
- from day one From the beginning; from the outset.
- from the word go From the beginning.
- full steam ahead To proceed with maximum power and speed.
- get a handle on something To find a way to deal with a problem or difficult situation.
- get a hold of oneself To get control of oneself; stop being emotional.
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Words that look familiar in another language but mean something else entirely.
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