"God help someone" meaning in English

See God help someone in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Interjection

Etymology: Compare Old English God helpe sumes mannes. Etymology templates: {{cog|ang|God helpe sumes mannes}} Old English God helpe sumes mannes
  1. Expressing extreme pity or commiseration. Translations (pity or commiseration): Gud nåde någon (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-God_help_someone-en-intj-0XoD~uZw Disambiguation of 'pity or commiseration': 100 0
  2. Expressing a threat to the person who violates some rule or condition. Translations (threat): Gud nåde någon (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-God_help_someone-en-intj-weuMmK9j Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English subjunctive expressions, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Swedish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 0 100 Disambiguation of English subjunctive expressions: 0 100 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 0 100 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 0 100 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 0 100 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 0 100 Disambiguation of 'threat': 0 100
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: heaven help someone
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  "etymology_text": "Compare Old English God helpe sumes mannes.",
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          "ref": "1848, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, Mary Barton:",
          "text": "God help yon poor pale girl, who droops forlorn, / And meekly her affliction doth endure; / God help her, outcast lamb; she trembling stands, / All wan her lips, and frozen red her hands; […]",
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          "_dis1": "100 0",
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          "word": "Gud nåde någon"
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      ],
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    {
      "word": "heaven help someone"
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  ],
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      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "lang_code": "sv",
      "sense": "pity or commiseration",
      "word": "Gud nåde någon"
    },
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      "lang": "Swedish",
      "lang_code": "sv",
      "sense": "threat",
      "word": "Gud nåde någon"
    }
  ],
  "word": "God help someone"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-03-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-03-03 using wiktextract (05c257f and 9d9a410). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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