for goodness' sake
10
7.6
- idiom
- Informal
:
por el amor de Dios
- 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
347
8.9
An angry or surprised question showing you do not believe something
62
9.2
A strong word that shows annoyance and makes a request urgent
45
7.6
People say it to show impatience or anger
33
9.9
A very rude phrase people say to show strong anger or annoyance
31
8.2
You say this when you feel very annoyed or impatient
21
9.0
Shows someone is annoyed, impatient, or in a hurry when spoken
17
8.4
A short phrase people say when they feel frustrated or disappointed
15
8.4
A short angry cry people say when they feel annoyed or frustrated
9
9.9
To show strong frustration and make a request sound urgent
2
8.2
A person asks angrily and urgently for someone to act now
1
7.3
People say it to show surprise, anger, or a strong need for an answer
1
9.9
People say a strong angry word when they feel very annoyed
1
9.9
Words people say when they are very annoyed or want something done quickly
1
7.9
Words people say to show strong surprise, anger or urgency in a question
To ask or beg strongly when you are upset
A strong spoken request or cry that shows shock and anger
How Forceful
- Offensive
33
9.9
- Offensive
65
9.7
- Informal
45
7.6
- Informal
10
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'.