Idiom
for crying out loud
Meaning
Used to express frustration, exasperation, or annoyance.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“For crying out loud, please stop making that noise.”
“Just pick a restaurant for crying out loud.”
“Answer your phone for crying out loud.”
“For crying out loud, I told you to lock the door before we left the house.”
“I have already explained how to use this software three times, so please pay attention for crying out loud.”
“The bus is twenty minutes late again, and I am going to miss my doctor's appointment for crying out loud.”
“I just bought this umbrella yesterday and it is already broken, so can I please have a refund for crying out loud?”
“For crying out loud, the project has been delayed yet again, despite our best efforts to meet the deadline.”
Examples
simple
“For crying out loud, please stop making that noise.”
“Just pick a restaurant for crying out loud.”
“Answer your phone for crying out loud.”
contextual
“For crying out loud, I told you to lock the door before we left the house.”
“I have already explained how to use this software three times, so please pay attention for crying out loud.”
“The bus is twenty minutes late again, and I am going to miss my doctor's appointment for crying out loud.”
“I just bought this umbrella yesterday and it is already broken, so can I please have a refund for crying out loud?”
complex
“For crying out loud, the project has been delayed yet again, despite our best efforts to meet the deadline.”
Origin
First recorded in the early 20th century, the phrase originated as a minced oath for the sake of Christ. It functioned as a linguistic substitution, allowing a speaker to express exasperation while avoiding the social and religious inconvenience of blasphemy. The profane original was displaced by the phonetically similar crying, a convenient adjustment for the polite ear.
Key words
Related idioms
- Updated