I'll be damned

I'll be damned

An expression of surprise or astonishment, especially regarding some recent revelation. I'll be damned. I never thought I'd see you walk through those doors again. After searching for 20 years, he watched as the bird landed just feet away from him—the bird everyone said was extinct. "I'll be damned," he whispered to himself.
See also: damned
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

I’ll be ˈdamned

(old-fashioned, spoken) used for expressing surprise: Well, I’ll be damned! Isn’t that Sarah Parker over there?
See also: damned
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • (well,) I'll be hanged!
  • (well,) I'll be!
  • I'll be hanged
  • I'll be!
  • imagine
  • (well,) imagine that!
  • (Well,) I'll be durned!
  • (Well,) I'll be blowed!
  • blowed
  • I'll be blowed
References in classic literature
When informed of this the sick man said in anger: "Then I'll be damned if I die!"
And I remember thinking: "I'll be damned if I'm ever so lost as to think of maths as beautiful."
1977 debut Damned, Damned, Damned, Well I'll be Damned...
But I'll be damned if I'm going to lay off the champers just because the world as we know it is about to crumble around our ears.
I just read one of your letters and I'll be damned if someone wasn't complaining about the promotion of beer.
Dad's book is one of those "been writing it for 20 years" things and once it was finished, I'll be damned if it isn't a good read.
I'll be damned if I am going to pay for a landslide." With a wink and a smile, John Kennedy had the audacity to tell a joke that, out of the mouth of another, would have been nothing less than devastating.
I'm willing to do whatever is necessary, because I'll be damned if you're gonna walk all over people.
A man who was a long time user of the product being reviewed denied ever seeing instructions on it and said "I'll be damned" when he was asked to take an instructed look.
I'll be damned if the long-haired man wasn't former REASON scribe Brian Doherty, who was on assignment for Liberty, which is where you will have to look for a fuller account of the convention, as I departed Convention Hall C shortly into the NRA's afternoon presentation and never returned.
I'll be damned if Genetic Disorder hasn't become somewhat of a San Diego institution--which, as counter intuitive as that might sound, is actually quite a good thing.
Besides, I've just forked out pounds 40 for my new do and I'll be damned if these April showers are going to spoil it.