For Pete's Sake

Question

Who's Pete in "For Pete's Sake"?

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[nq:1]Who's Pete in "For Pete's Sake"?[/nq]
Saint Peter?
Adam Maass

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[nq:1]Who's Pete in "For Pete's Sake"?[/nq]
It depends upon what you mean by "is".
Jan Sand

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[nq:2]Who's Pete in "For Pete's Sake"?[/nq]
[nq:1]Saint Peter?[/nq]
I agree. However, the oath "For Pete's sake!" is likely a minced form of "For Christ's sake."

Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com

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[nq:1]Who's Pete in "For Pete's Sake"?[/nq]
Pete's Sake is short for Japani wine made
with KNO3 instead of fermented rice.
Jai Maharaj
http://www.mantra.com/jai
Om Shanti

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[nq:1]Who's Pete in "For Pete's Sake"?[/nq]
My guess is Jesus, aka Christ.

Charles Riggs
Email address: chriggs>at>eircom>dot>com

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[nq:2]Saint Peter?[/nq]
[nq:1]I agree. However, the oath "For Pete's sake!" is likely a minced form of "For Christ's sake."[/nq]
But didn't people actually swear by saints? In any case, if it is a minced oath, it would do for both "For Christ's sake" and "For ***'s sake", since there's no information carried in the initial consonant.

Evan Kirshenbaum + HP Laboratories >I value writers such as Fiske.
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[nq:2]I agree. However, the oath "For Pete's sake!" is likely a minced form of "For Christ's sake."[/nq]
[nq:1]But didn't people actually swear by saints? In any case, if it is a minced oath, it would do for both "For Christ's sake" and "For ***'s sake", since there's no information carried in the initial consonant.[/nq]
From one way at looking at things not the way Arianists such as Isaac Newton look at them, of course "For Christ's sake!" and "For ***'s sake" are referring to exactly the same thing.
I decided to try to find out what the original sense of "sake" was as used here. I found the following in The Century Dictionary:

From
www.century-dictionary.com
(quote)
sake 1 n.

4. Cause ; account ; reason ; interest ; regardto any person or thing : as, without sake ; now always preceded by for, with a possessive : as, for my sake ; for heaven's sake. When the posses- sive is plural, the noun is often made plural also : as, "for your fair sakes " ( Shak., K. John, iv. 1.

78) ; "for fashion sake ( Shak., As you Like it, iii. 2. 271) ;etc. Compare "for conscience sake, etc.
(end quote)
I think it likely that the "sake" in "For Pete's sake!" *is* the same "sake" as in "For ***'s sake!" That is, I think the cause it refers to is not, or was not, Saint Peter's, but instead was ***'s cause or interest, and "Pete" was a simple substitute done to eliminate the blasphemous use of "***" or "Christ" (or to reduce the blasphemous effect, if "For Pete's sake!" can still be considered blasphemy).
I found the following, under the same dictionary entry, to be interesting:
(quote)
For old sake's sake, for the sake of old times ; for auld langsyne. (Colloq. or prov. Eng.)
Yet for old sake's sake she is still, dears,
The prettiest doll in the world.
Kingsley, Water-Babies.
(end quote)

Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com

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[nq:1]Who's Pete in "For Pete's Sake"?[/nq]
My cousin.

John Varela

For Pete's Sake

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