" Man Alive!!"
"Man Alive!" as an expletive to express shock or amazement seems to have originated in the 1800s, along with terms like "Land sakes!" These phrases and others were developed because Queen Victoria was notorious for her disapproval of cursing or taking God's name in vain. It became more proper to say "Man Alive!" than "Oh my God!" It was also traced back to a naval expression when there were survivors after a shipwreck, etc.
Who else likes Idioms??
Well, in my house growing up we used "Man Alive!!" a lot!
Here is a great Idiom resource site.. fun!
yeah, I love idioms!
ReplyDeleteI searched for the idiom 'man alive', after hearing Stephen Merchant using it 'left right and center' (another idiom ;-)), and landed on this website. I think I will appropriate it myself.
Cheers