perish the thought

Idioms  

1. Don't even think of it. This expression is used as a wish that what was just mentioned will never happen. For example, He's going to give another speech? Perish the thought! This phrase appeared in Handel's oratorio Joshua (1748; text by Thomas Morell): “It never shall be said that our allies in vain implor'd our aid. Perish the thought!” Also see god forbid.

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Example Sentences

Doesn’t she undermine her sex by unleashing female characters so variously selfish, psychotic, shape-shifting and — perish the thought — uncivil?

From Washington Post • Jul. 5, 2018

I changed shafts three more times in quick succession simply to perish the thought.

From Golf Digest • Feb. 6, 2017

What if – perish the thought – government thought it worth paying for such infrastructure directly, rather than trying to finagle it out of the planning system?

From The Guardian • Dec. 6, 2015

She said there's nothing improper — or, perish the thought, unethical — about paying membership dues to an entity that also decides which self-nominated companies are the most ethical in the world.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 27, 2014

Put off the ball? why! perish the thought!

From The Bronze Eagle A Story of the Hundred Days by Orczy, Emmuska Orczy, Baroness