What does heavens to betsy mean

But the name it comes from is one of the most British sounding names you can possibly imagine. In , a new punk rock band was formed. In all honesty, this band was never particularly big.

Even when they were in their heyday, most people would not have heard of them. Saying expressions of shock that talk about God or Heaven or not used to insult God but to ask him for guidance. The 19th century gave us a fantastic wealth of idioms. The phrase comes from the 19th century, and while it was trendy during the s, it has since become less popular. Many debates are surrounding this phrase.

Who was Betsy? Why did we stop using it? Is it blasphemy? Should we bring it back? Table of Contents. Some reputable sources date the phrase to In recent decades, some have thought the term old-fashioned or antiquated, so you may see or hear it used less nowadays than other idioms discussed here at The Word Counter.

That said, in the s, a group of musicians from Olympia, Washington, liked it so much they named their band Heavens to Betsy. Heavens to Betsy is an idiom. These words and phrases have a figurative rather than literal meaning. Here are just a few of the most common idioms used today:. His boss gave him the ax. Taken literally, heavens to Betsy makes no sense at all! You simply must know that the saying is an interjection, used to express shock and surprise.

There are countless ways to express astonishment, including other interesting short phrases as well as single words. The long list of synonyms for heavens to Betsy includes:.

You may also sometimes see or hear the expression heavens to Murgatroyd , which means the same thing as heavens to Betsy and simply subs in a different name.

Various theories have been put forward. The most common of these is that Betsy was Betsy Ross, who stitched the first American flag.

Another is that the Betsy referred to is the slang name that early US settlers used for their favourite pistol or rifle. Neither of these theories comes accompanied by any evidence and, as always, speculation must be put into etymological limbo.