Timeline for Nonreligious version of "heaven knows that…"
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
14 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jun 15, 2020 at 7:40 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
Commonmark migration
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| Mar 5, 2017 at 2:20 | comment | added | smci | @LightnessRacesinOrbit: yes in the sense of the title, which conflicts with the details. Per my example. Tired of waiting for OP to fix it, I'll just edit the title. | |
| Mar 4, 2017 at 14:58 | comment | added | Lightness Races in Orbit | @smci: "What?! 'Evidently' means the opposite of 'heaven knows'!" Not in this context, no. | |
| Mar 3, 2017 at 1:37 | comment | added | smci | Ok, but then the original question title misrepresesents its contents. The standard meaning is "Who took my sandwich? Heaven knows" (as in, "nobody knows", "search me", "f***ed if I know"...) | |
| Mar 2, 2017 at 23:06 | comment | added | Jason C | The other thing is "evidently" means clear or obvious based on some active observations, whereas "heaven knows" is more of a "trust me" than a "look at the evidence in front of us". | |
| Mar 2, 2017 at 23:04 | comment | added | Jason C | "Evidently" is a bit different than "heaven knows". "Evidently" implies that you attempted something then failed, or perhaps thought you were better at something then found out you weren't, or perhaps in a sarcastic sense that some person/thing told you you weren't good at something and you disagree. "Heaven knows" doesn't carry those connotations, and is more of an admission (and often a neutral admission rather than one of defeat). | |
| Mar 2, 2017 at 17:33 | comment | added | Rich | Naturally, too; natch for short. | |
| Mar 2, 2017 at 16:21 | comment | added | 1006a | I agree, in the OP's example the phrase should be parsed something like God knows that it is true [that] I'm not perfect when it comes to exercise rather than no one but God knows [whether] I'm not perfect when it comes to exercise. | |
| Mar 2, 2017 at 15:24 | history | edited | Illya Moskvin | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Changed intro sentence to emphasize context
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| Mar 2, 2017 at 15:20 | comment | added | Illya Moskvin | @smci Thanks for the note, I edited the answer to clarify which definition of 'heaven knows' applies in this context. | |
| Mar 2, 2017 at 15:18 | history | edited | Illya Moskvin | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Clarified definition of heaven knows
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| Mar 2, 2017 at 15:10 | comment | added | Illya Moskvin | I see what you mean, but that depends on which definition or use of 'heaven knows' you have in mind: (1) used to emphasize that one does not know something; (2) used to emphasize the truth of a statement. 'Evidently' is a synonym of (2), but in a non-religious way. Within the context of the statement provided by OP, I believe 'heaven knows' takes on definition (2), not (1). | |
| Mar 2, 2017 at 10:19 | comment | added | smci | What?! 'Evidently' means the opposite of 'heaven knows'! | |
| Mar 2, 2017 at 4:29 | history | answered | Illya Moskvin | CC BY-SA 3.0 |