land n.1
a euph. for lord; usu. as excl. land! or in excls. below.
 | Vancouver Indep. 3 Apr. 7/2: ‘Good land!’ cried Dame Stark. | |
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | (con. c.1840) Huckleberry Finn 359: Good land! | |
| Pratt Union (KS) 11 Jan. 6/4: ‘Great Lands! but what is this country coming to anyway?’. | |
| Tom Sawyer, Detective 15: ‘Land!’ he says, ‘it’s like old times to hear all this tittle-tattle.’. | |
| ‘Cape Cod Dialect’ in DN II:v 299: land! [...] Exclamations of varying force. | |
| (con. 1900) Green Grow the Lilacs I iv: Well, fer land’s-a-livin’! Of all the crazies! | |
| ‘Mickey Mouse’ [comic strip] Land, Eli, you don’t give a girl no time to herself. | |
| Wives & Lovers (2016) 203: ‘My land, you aren’t even dressed proper!’. | |
| Garden of Sand (1981) 207: Land! He must of supposed it was paint! |
In exclamations
(mainly US) a mild oath.
| Letters of Major J. Downing (1835) 194: ‘For the land’s sake,’ says I, ‘jist look at it.’. | |
| Knickerbocker (N.Y.) xxvii (Jan.) 18: Jedediah, for the land’s sake, does my mouth blaze? | |
| Widow Bedott Papers (1883) 120: For the land’s sake, child, what’s the matter with ye? | |
| Deephaven 159: ‘Land sakes alive!’ says he. | |
| Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 6 Dec. 13/4: ‘Lands alive, you ain’t my husband!’. | |
| Poganuc People 21: Oh, lands! he ain’t no more ’Piscopal than I be. | |
| (con. c.1840) Huckleberry Finn 221: Where, for the land’s sake, did you get these amaz’n pickles? | |
| Boy Life on the Prairie 149: Now for land sakes! | |
| Blazed Trail 178: ‘Well, for th’ land’s sake!’ ejaculated the scandalized negro. | |
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Essex Newsman 8 Dec. 2/4: ‘Landsakes! it’s locked!’ the housekeeper muttered. | |
| Watch Yourself Go By 61: Land sakes! Have a little patience. | |
| Gay-cat 139: Land sakes, child! how did you ever get yourself so wringing wet. | |
| ‘Believe Me’ in Afro-American (Baltimore, MD) 1 Sept. 12/3: The dear Aunt Harriets and Uncle Lukes who throw up their hands with a ‘Lan’s Sakes’ and shake their heads. | |
| New York Day by Day 4 June [synd. col.] She says it as looking at the thumbnail picture of the author of these articles, for land’s sakes alive! | |
| Farewell, My Lovely (1949) 97: ‘I’m a detective.’ ‘Land’s sakes. Why didn’t you say so?’. | |
| ‘College for Crooks’ in Ten Detective Aces Feb. 🌐 You here so soon? Lands, Miss Angeline just done hung up the phone. | |
| Loving (1978) 46: For land’s sake have a mind to the quilting. Come on. | |
![[Can]](/static/img/flags/can.png "Canada") | Windsor Star (Ontario) 11 Feb. 6/2: Rufus: Landsakes. | |
| Naked Lunch (1968) 106: Oh Landsakes! | |
| Go, Man, Go! 97: Lands-sake, can’t a woman have a baby in peace anymore? | |
| ‘A Boy and his Dog’ in Beast that Shouted Love (1976) 209: ‘Well, land sakes,’ I said, wide-eyed. | |
| Cutter and Bone (2001) 93: Land sakes, boy [...] You shore have a way of making out. |
(Can./US) a mild oath.
| (con. c.1840) Huckleberry Finn 223: Seventeen! My land! Why, I wouldn’t set out such a string as that, not if I never got to glory. | |
| David Harum 212: ‘My land!’ cried Mrs. Bixbee with an expression of horror. | |
| Sons O’ Men 18: ‘My land!’ he said. ‘I’m fair starved.’. | |
| Shorty McCabe on the Job 167: ‘My land! I guess it’s jest as well he is,’ she gasps. | |
| Ruggles of Red Gap (1917) 284: My lands! that’s a funny thing. | |
| Somewhere in Red Gap 50: My lands! Ain’t I the cynical old Kate! | |
| (con. 1920s) Big Money in USA (1966) 948: Why, my lands, you could cross the ocean in it. | |
| Babe is Wise 142: ‘My land !’ she ejaculated, goggling. | |
| Scrambled Yeggs 66: She lifted the lid, peered inside and said, ‘My lands,’ with her eyes wide. She handed the box to me. ‘I never did see so much money,’ she said. | |
| Night People 166: My land, all the way to New Orleans, Louisiana! |