Englishfor heaven's sake
Meaning: An exclamation of impatience, surprise or pleading.
Example: “For heaven's sake, just tell me what happened!”
Origin: Another minced oath drawn from the same source as "for goodness' sake": the older, more directly religious "for God's sake," softened by substituting a less direct stand-in for the divine name to avoid what many considered outright blasphemy. "For heaven's sake" is documented from at least the 1800s, one of several parallel substitutions in the same family — "for pity's sake," recorded from the 1500s, followed the identical pattern generations earlier. All of them serve the same purpose: letting a speaker express real exasperation or urgency without technically taking a sacred name in vain.
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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