goodness knows

goodness knows

1. No one knows. (A variant of "God knows.") Goodness knows how long it will take for my application to be processed. A: "How do you think you did on your exam?" B: "Goodness knows!"
2. It is true, certain, or definite that; it is obvious or clear that. Goodness knows I need to do well on this test, or I can kiss my scholarship goodbye!
See also: goodness, know
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

God/goodness/Heaven knows

(spoken)
1 I do not know; no one knows: ‘What’s going to happen next?’ ‘God knows.’
2 used for adding emphasis to a statement, opinion, etc: God knows how he manages to survive on such a small salary. I’m no gardening expert, goodness knows!(Some people may find the use of God knows offensive.)
See also: god, goodness, heaven, know
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • (the) gods only know
  • to goodness
  • goodness me
  • my goodness me
  • goodness gracious
  • thank goodness
  • Thank goodness!
  • for goodness' sake
  • oh my goodness gracious
  • goodness
References in periodicals archive
After all these years, and goodness knows how many expense-account miles, my think-bubble still fills with anticipatory asterisks and exclamation marks at the prospect of meeting someone new.
Designed by a young person with superb eyesight and no thought for Internet Explorer's extremely useful Text Size function, it's actually a pretty cool site and the low resolution of the too-small images was probably decided on more in the cause of speed than as a bar to students downloading the images and doing goodness knows what with them -- as many name architects seem to fear.
And go figure: Taboo, written by goodness knows how many queers, centers on a hetero love story.
Do you ever see healthcare workers that do their grocery shopping on their way home from work in the uniform that they have done "goodness knows what" in all day?
If the Mayflower had been sent packing, Europe would have remained pretty much unaffected - and imagine, there would have been no America to rescue us from Kaiser Wilhelm II, Hitler, Mussolini, and goodness knows who else.
Goodness knows how it won awards and how some who took part in it are now "celebrities"!
Goodness knows what sort of help medical staff could expect if a separatist Scotland had to rely on its own resources.
WITH 120,000 patients waiting more than four hours in September, goodness knows what that will be in mid winter.
Multiply this by goodness knows how many incidents, and it's little wonder that our council is going to pot.
"Over the past goodness knows how long it has all been based on the 800, so if we were going to change things he would know whether I would be able to do that sort of stuff and at good quality."
Also, goodness knows where the writer gets the idea that the team is full of foreigners, as it is not.
WHILE this government deliberates on how many millions we can or should give in overseas aid and while many residents in the UK announce that all overseas aid should be stopped and quote that old saying - charity begins at home, a scientist in this country, Dr Dom Lane, a consultant food researcher, is paid to conduct lengthy experiments using 2,000 slices of bread and goodness knows how much electricity in order to determine the best way to produce the best slice of toast.
"I have lots of gay friends and was d e l i g h ted to be involved." Goodness knows what corner store prude, Norris Cole, would make of it...
Thursday, still no collection, so this obnoxious waste has been left in the heat of the day until goodness knows when.
"Goodness knows how James will react when he gets the bill from Southern Electric."