When my wife gets frustrated, she exclaims, “For the love of Pete!”
(Before I go any further, I should say that my wife is not a time traveler from the early 1900s, and she does make comments that are more 21st Century sounding.)
When she says that, I start wondering, “Who is Pete, and why do we care about his love?” For that matter why do we care about Pete’s sake?
It turns out that Pete is an euphemism for God because people do not want to take God’s name in vain. After all, God plays an important role in our eternal existence. Blaspheming against Pete is not that big of a deal because he does not have anything to do with that.
However, using Pete as a euphemism leads to another question. Why Pete? There are plenty of other sayings that have been created to avoid breaking the commandment against blasphemy.
Gosh
Golly
Gosh Darn
Jiminy Cricket – although he seemed like a pretty good guy in Pinocchio
Egad
Gadzooks
Anyway, you get the point and can see how those words replace words at would be blasphemous. However, Pete just does not fit in the list.
As near as I can tell, Pete is Saint Peter, the apostle that Jesus said would be the rock upon which the church would be built.
This means that Pete actually had a role in our eternal life. If he had not spread the news of the church, then religion would be a lot different. In other words, taking Pete’s name in vain may not be a great idea.
Of course, Pete may not be Saint Peter.
I used to work with a guy named Pete, In fact, he is the only Pete I have ever known. Well, that may not count because Pete was his nickname, and I am certain that he would not want me to reveal his real name on a blog. Surely, he is not the Pete that everyone talks about.
It really all comes down to this. I have no idea who Pete is, but I want him to know that I hear about him all of the time.
SBI: A Thinning Crowd 
I guessed that one right But had never thought about it before.
There were not many Pete’s to choose from.
I use all of those expressions I think because I find them humorous. Jumpin’ jehosaphat!
Good Golly Miss Molly
😀
You might like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iltm9-aXC2Y
That’s awesome.
I love this post. I say “for Pete’s sake” all the time. I used to say “for crying out loud” frequently. On occasion I will say, “for the love of rice and peas.”
I use “omgerds” or “good gourd” in texts. Maybe I can add “good Pete” into the mix.
I am glad you liked it. For the love of rice and peas is an interesting one.