Lord (only) knows, the
Lord knows
1. No one knows (except for God). Lord knows how long it will take for my application to be processed. A: "How do you think you did on your exam?" B: "Lord knows!"
2. It is absolutely true, certain, or definite that; it is obvious or clear that. Lord knows I need to do well on this test or I can kiss my scholarship goodbye!
See also: know, lord
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
Lord (only) knows, the
Who knows? I certainly don’t. The locution that only God knows the answer to something dates from the eighteenth century or earlier. (It is also put as God knows and Heaven knows.) Defoe wrote (The True-Born Englishman, 1701), “Great families of yesterday we show, and lords, whose parents were the Lord knows who,” and a few decades later Swift wrote (Polite Conversation, 1738), “Lord of the Lord knows what.”
See also: lord
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- Lord knows
- Lord knows (that) I've tried
- Lord knows...
- Lord only knows
- gosh knows
- heaven knows
- God knows (that) I've tried
- God only knows
- God/goodness/Heaven knows
- goodness knows