This inoffensive word is much used in a variety of ways by people of all classes. Sometimes we hear from old ladies the exclamation, 'Oh, my goodness! denoting surprise. 'Goodness me,' 'goodness gracious,' and 'goodness sake,' are also common. It is not peculiar to the Americans; for we find a distinguished personage using it:
Now don't sleep, Caudle; do listen to me for five minutes; 'tisn't often I speak, goodness knows.--Punch.
"The devil's in the cat, I swear!
(Cried cooky): goodness gracious! there!"
Whilst Molly shrieked "Ah, wo is me!"--Reynard the Fox, 57.
goodness me!
My father's beams are made of wood.
But never, never half so good
As those that now I see.
Wordsworth, Rejected Addresses.
Mr. Johnson says the Railroad company charges more than he thinks himself authorized to pay; if he yields, other companies will enlarge their demands, and goodness knows where he will find himself landed.--N. Y. Com. Advertiser.
Well, goodness me! it's mighty strange I can't call you to mind.--Georgia Scenes, p. 22.