for goodness' sake
37
7.6
- idiom
- Informal
- For goodness' sake, put them down.
- Oh, for goodness' sake
- Get some sleep for goodness' sake
- For goodness' sake, let
Examples
-
Oh, Charles, for goodness sake, stop talking about Georgia like that.
-
Garnet, for goodness' sake, listen to me for once!
Fiction book (1990) -
- Look, for goodness sake, go to sleep.
-
- Oh, for goodness' sake.
-
Oh, for goodness sake, let me be.
-
Just be good for goodness' sake.
Academic text (2010) -
Give me a break, for goodness' sake!
Blog text (3) -
For goodness sake, why is he snoring here?
-
No more gloating, no more blame, and for goodness' sake, no more hate and vitriol.
Blog text (9) -
For goodness' sake, just listen to what I'm saying.
Synonyms
∞
5.4
Say it to show disbelief, irritation, or to urge someone
∞
8.9
An angry or surprised question showing you do not believe something
66
8.2
You say this when you feel very annoyed or impatient
55
7.6
People say it to show impatience or anger
52
7.9
Words people say to show strong surprise, anger or urgency in a question
43
9.9
A very rude phrase people say to show strong anger or annoyance
30
8.4
A short phrase people say when they feel frustrated or disappointed
26
9.0
Shows someone is annoyed, impatient, or in a hurry when spoken
21
8.4
A short angry cry people say when they feel annoyed or frustrated
21
9.9
People say a strong angry word when they feel very annoyed
10
7.3
People say it to show surprise, anger, or a strong need for an answer
5
8.2
A person asks angrily and urgently for someone to act now
3
9.7
A strong spoken request or cry that shows shock and anger
2
9.9
Words people say when they are very annoyed or want something done quickly
1
9.3
To ask or beg strongly when you are upset
1
9.9
To show strong frustration and make a request sound urgent
1
9.2
A strong word that shows annoyance and makes a request urgent
How Forceful
- Offensive
43
9.9
- Offensive
200
9.7
- Informal
55
7.6
- Informal
37
7.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components 'for' + 'goodness' + 'sake' are compositionally interpretable and follow the productive 'for X's sake' pattern, so a learner who knows the words can plausibly infer an emphatic plea invoking 'goodness' as a reason. However, the phrase functions as a fixed exclamatory formula conveying annoyance or emphasis, and that pragmatic force is idiomatic and not fully predictable from the parts, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
For goodness' sake comes from older speech when people said for God's sake to show strong feeling; over time many speakers started using goodness instead of God to be less rude. So the phrase kept the same force and is now used to show 'annoyance' or to add 'emphasis'.