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um Gottes willen

for goodness' sake; for heaven's sake; good grief

interjection oom GOT-es VIL-en Rare
Communication Responses

Usage Note

um Gottes willen is an exclamation expressing dismay, urgency, or alarm. Despite its religious wording, it is used by non-religious speakers as well and is equivalent to 'for heaven's sake'.

Examples

"Um Gottes willen, was ist da passiert?"

Natural Translation

For heaven's sake, what happened there?

Literal Translation

For God's sake, what there happened?

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