land sakes

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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(minced oath) Lord’s sakes

Interjection

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land sakes

  1. (chiefly US, somewhat dated and rustic) An expression of surprise or dismay.
    • 1886, Horatio Alger, chapter 28, in Helping Himself:
      "Land sakes! I don't keep a boardin' house!"
    • 1912, Victor Appleton, chapter 31, in Lulu, Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble:
      Well, as soon as Alice finished singing, land sakes! goodness, gracious me! if a big fox didn't pop out from behind a tree.
    • 1983 June 19, Philip Shenon, “For Homesick Mississippians, a Day Full of Grits and Grins”, in New York Times, retrieved 3 November 2015:
      The fourth annual “Way Up North in Mississippi” picnic was well under way in Central Park yesterday. . . . There were twangy cries of “land sakes” and “don't that beat all” and choruses of “hi, y'all.”
    • 2015, Lori Copeland, My Heart Stood Still, →ISBN, page 41:
      “One of the McDougal young'uns? Well, land sakes—haven't seen you in a coon's age.”

Synonyms

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Anagrams

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