Lord love a duck

English

Etymology

Variant of earlier (18th century) Lord love you, God love us, etc. used as exclamation of exasperation or surprise.[1] The significance of the duck is unknown.[2] Attested from the late 19th century.[3]

Interjection

Lord love a duck

An exclamation of surprise.
- 1913, Ian Hay, The Writings of Ian Hay:
  "Lord love a duck!" he observed in a dazed voice — "What's this?"
- 2000, Noreen Wald, Death Never Takes a Holiday:
  Gypsy Rose passed me a tuna on rye. "Lord love a duck, I hope she's not Carita Magenta's ghost.

References

“love, v.1.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2008.
Michael Quinion (July 23, 2024) “Lord love a duck”, in World Wide Words.
Jonathon Green (2024) “lord love...!”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang

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[1] “love, v.1.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2008.

[2] Michael Quinion (July 23, 2024) “Lord love a duck”, in World Wide Words.

[3] Jonathon Green (2024) “lord love...!”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang