God forbid

God forbid

A phrase invoking God's protection to keep something from happening. Sometimes used sarcastically or hyperbolically. God forbid I get another ticket on my parents' car. I'll be grounded for a month! God forbid that an R-rated film should have anything offensive in it!
See also: forbid, god
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

God forbid!

 and Heaven forbid!
a phrase expressing the desire that God would forbid the situation that the speaker has just mentioned from ever happening. Tom: It looks like taxes are going up again. Bob: God forbid! Bob: Bill was in a car wreck. I hope he wasn't hurt! Sue: God forbid!
See also: god
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

God forbid

Also, heaven forbid. May God prevent something from happening or being the case. For example, God forbid that they actually encounter a bear, or Heaven forbid that the tornado pulls off the roof. This term, in which heaven also stands for "God," does not necessarily imply a belief in God's direct intervention but merely expresses a strong wish. [c. 1225] For a synonym, see perish the thought.
See also: forbid, god
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

God/Heaven forˈbid (that...)

(also humorous or old use, less frequent Heaven forˈfend (that...)) (spoken) used to say that you hope that something will not happen: ‘Maybe you’ll end up as a lawyer, like me.’ ‘Heaven forbid!’(Some people find this use offensive.)
See also: forbid, god, heaven
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • forbid
  • as far as the eye can see
  • as far as the eye can/could see
  • be a fate worse than death
  • and his mother
  • chain (someone or something) to (something)
  • chain to
References in periodicals archive
The nun was not "preaching," God forbid, at the Joliet, Ill., cathedral when I attended Mass there 10 years ago.
Women preaching
God forbid that your freedom should make my bondage, as Elizabeth I so eloquently put it.
Stager off the mark
We know better today unless, God forbid, you should be a Latino or Arab immigrant.
Suspicious Arabic
Not, God forbid, that this was a motivating factor all a long.
Tourism code
"I can guarantee you that if we have, God forbid, a suicide bomber in a big city in the United States, 'shoot to kill' will be the inevitable policy," predicts Miami Police Chief John F.
License to kill
New-car dealers are now "thinking twice about all those cars they loan to colleges and universities and drivers education programs around the state." God forbid Coach Houston Nutt and Frank Broyles pay car sales taxes like the rest of taxpaying citizens.
Give me a break
"So if you go from Red Hat to Suse or, God forbid, Suse to Red Hat, it's not that difficult--not like the .Net lock-in that Microsoft is going for." (.Net is one way Microsoft ties its systems together.)
Proprietary software can't control the world: even Microsoft now says it can co-exist with open source software
No not the Atkins, weight-watchers or God forbid a booze-free programme.
IRISHMAN OF THE PEOPLE: You will be seeing a lot less of me
Please place in the hearts of the homeowners that they should not build, God forbid, for these people, and strengthen their hearts so that they can withstand this difficult test and so that they will not sell for the lure of money.
G-D damn hipsters
God forbid that direct writing companies take these affirmations to heart!
'Snake oil' pollutes underwriting: the very concept of insurability will be at risk unless underwriters embrace new and faster modes of risk assessment
Zack, a South African visitor, puts it succinctly: "Do the locals honestly expect the typical tourist, being here for merely a few weeks, to learn to order food in Japanese, understand the Japanese train announcements, read museum writing in hiragana and, God forbid, kanji?
Today's tourists sound off
And if, God forbid, the market goes down, I won't dive and hit the concrete.
If you built it, they will come
But god forbid someone in their diverse newsroom has a diverse view about how the news ought to be presented.
They [journalists] love diversity in the newsroom
God forbid, a high proportion of that turnover could have gone to William Hills?
Letters: Hood proves a real punters' party pooper; Mike Williams was disappointed with William Hill's PR man
(God forbid anybody connected with an art museum should ever make a mistake, be surprised, or have to scramble to fix something.
Safe and sound: Peter Plagens on Neal Benezra. (News)