Lord love a duck

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English

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Etymology

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Variant of earlier (18th century) Lord love you, God love us, etc. used as exclamation of exasperation or surprise.[1] The significance of the duck is unknown.[2] Attested from the late 19th century.[3]

Interjection

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Lord love a duck

  1. An exclamation of surprise.
    • 1913, Ian Hay, The Writings of Ian Hay:
      "Lord love a duck!" he observed in a dazed voice — "What's this?"
    • 2000, Noreen Wald, Death Never Takes a Holiday:
      Gypsy Rose passed me a tuna on rye. "Lord love a duck, I hope she's not Carita Magenta's ghost.

References

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  1. ^ love, v.1.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2008.
  2. ^ Michael Quinion (July 23, 2024) “Lord love a duck”, in World Wide Words.
  3. ^ lord love...!”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present