God forbid

Idioms  

1. Also, heaven forbid. May God prevent something from happening or being the case. For example, God forbid that they actually encounter a bear, or Heaven forbid that the tornado pulls off the roof. This term, in which heaven also stands for “God,” does not necessarily imply a belief in God's direct intervention but merely expresses a strong wish. [c. 1225] For a synonym, see perish the thought.

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Example Sentences

In his book “Tomb Sculpture: Its Changing Aspects From Ancient Egypt to Bernini,” the art historian Erwin Panofsky mused: “If we were, God forbid, sociologists, we might say that the entire Egyptian civilization tended to be ‘death-oriented’ rather than ‘life-oriented’; Diodorus of Sicily expressed the same contrast much better in the sentence: ‘The Egyptians say that their houses are only hostelries, and their graves their houses.’

From The Wall Street Journal

“Any major repair, like, god forbid an engine failure or anything like that, I’m out of the business,” the Tampa, Fla.-based trucker said in an interview from a rest-stop in Charlotte, N.C., where he was transporting a load of empty bottles.

From The Wall Street Journal

You also need a contingency plan if something — God forbid — ever happened to your son and he predeceased you.

From MarketWatch

Few people would want to look for a new place in their 70s or, God forbid, 80s.

From MarketWatch

Or, God forbid, should I find someone to marry just for the purpose of taking care of me in my twilight years?

From MarketWatch