I wanted to use the phrase "God forbid" the other day, but really wanted to avoid the religious connotations that may come along with it. I was stumped while thinking of a replacement or variation.
I like the way the phrase "flows" or "feels" when interjected like this:
You could do X if, God forbid, Y doesn't happen.
I know "heaven forbid" is common, but that's the type of thing I'm trying to avoid. Are there any similar phrases that could be used in such a way, or even a good replacement word for "God/heaven" which would work here and still sound natural?
Best Answer
Aside from the phrases "God forbid" and "Heaven (or heaven) forbid" which could be construed to have religious connotations, this site suggests perish the thought. On the entry for this phrase, the site writes:
There are further examples here of its use, writing:
Like "God forbid!", "perish the thought" can be used both parenthetically in the middle of a sentence, and as a phrase more on its own. For your specific example, you could say: