Etymology Journal ยท L
Land sakes alive!
Meaning
- A more dramatic version of 'land sakes'. It is used to express genuine shock or amazement at something unexpected.
Exclamatory, charming
Used in a sentence
- Land sakes alive, the cat is on the kitchen counter again!
- Land sakes alive, you mean to tell me they are already engaged?
- Land sakes alive, that was a close call on the highway.
The backstory
An extension of the previous phrase, adding 'alive' provides extra emphasis to the exclamation, likely popularized in early 20th-century rural speech.
Heard in
The South, Midwest
Vibe check