Q & A: "For Pete's sake"

Q: Who is Pete in "For Pete's sake"?

A: Peter refers to Saint Peter, one of Jesus’s closest apostles in Christian tradition and a major figure in early Christianity. Over time, people softened the religious phrase “for God’s sake” into something less overtly religious and less offensive, especially in polite or everyday speech. Using Peter—a highly respected saint—kept the emphasis without directly invoking God.

As language evolved, “Peter” was shortened to “Pete,” making the expression more casual and conversational. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, “for Pete’s sake” was firmly established in English as a mild exclamation of frustration, impatience, or emphasis.

Today, most people use the phrase with no religious intent at all. It’s simply an idiom meaning something like:

• “Come on!”

• “Seriously?”

• “Enough already!”

So Pete isn’t a random person—it’s a linguistic echo of Saint Peter, softened by time, habit, and everyday use 🙂

Source: Some or all of the content was generated using an AI language model