My sainted uncle is a British exclamation of surprise, alarm, or exasperated disbelief — a minced oath that softens the shock without invoking stronger language.
My sainted uncle is a British exclamation of surprise, alarm, or exasperated disbelief — a minced oath that softens the shock without invoking stronger language. It belongs to the tradition of comic British exclamations that substitute safely absurd imagery for actual profanity. The register is mildly theatrical and somewhat dated; it's the kind of thing a character in a P.G. Wodehouse novel might say. Today it can be used sincerely by older speakers or ironically by younger ones.
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UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
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(UK) An expression of surprise or alarm.
A British exclamation of surprise, alarm, or mild disbelief — a polite, slightly old-fashioned alternative to stronger oaths. 'My sainted aunt!' fills the same emotional slot as 'Good heavens!' or 'Blimey!', letting you express genuine shock without any actual profanity. It has a charming, faintly theatrical quality that makes it sound like something your grandmother might have said upon discovering the cat in the biscuit tin — and that's precisely its appeal.
(Britain, Ireland) : my sainted aunt, my sainted uncle.
(idiomatic, AU, NZ, UK, dated, US, Canada) An expression of surprise.
My sainted uncle, they've only gone and booked the wrong venue for the whole conference.
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(UK) An expression of surprise or alarm.
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