God help someone

English

Etymology

Compare Old English God helpe sumes mannes.

Interjection

God help someone

1. Expressing extreme pity or commiseration.
   • 1848, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, Mary Barton:

     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; […]

   • 1995, Nick Hornby, High Fidelity, London: Victor Gollancz, →ISBN, page 143:

     ‘ […] But we want to be a bit more experimental than that. We want to retain our pop sensibilities, but kind of stretch them a bit.’
     God help us.
     ‘Sounds great.’

2. Expressing a threat to the person who violates some rule or condition.
   • 2011, Simon Perry, All Who Came Before, page 60:

     “God help anyone who touches wine destined for Amram's lips!” Eliazar laughed as he lifted the skins on the cart to reach for a piece of bread to chew as he walked.