For Pete’s Sake Day

Oh, for Pete’s sake! Not another pointless holiday?

For Pete’s Sake Day celebrates one example of a ‘minced oath’, where an offensive word or phrase is substituted by something more acceptable in society. Other examples include ‘For crying out loud!’ and ‘Sugar!’. It’s a fun and silly reason to have a little fun with words!

How to Celebrate For Pete’s Sake Day

Some events are pretty serious ones, while other days are meant to be celebrated with a light-hearted chuckle. And, Mother of Pearl! This one is definitely all about the absurdity. Check out some fun ways to enjoy celebrating For Pete’s Sake Day:

Create Some Silly Minced Oaths

Have some fun with For Pete’s Sake Day by getting together with some friends and getting inspired to create some interesting and silly minced swear words of your own. Think up some of the existing substitutions already known, like Balderdash, Dagnabbit, or Holy Cow – and then get a little silly with them. Come up with some creative phrases that rival the best of them, like Son of a Monkey!, Poo on a Stick!, or Merlin’s Beard!

Do Something for Pete

For those who happen to have a guy named Pete in their life, whether a friend or family member, why not do something on For Pete’s Sake Day, just for his sake? It doesn’t have to be much – making him a cup of tea or a nice sandwich would be good! For those who happen to be Pete-less, perhaps it would be okay to celebrate by saying ‘For Pete’s Sake’ whenever the opportunity happens to arise!

History of For Pete’s Sake Day

The first recording of the use of the phrase “for Pete’s sake” dates back more than a century, to 1903. Morphing into “for the love of Pete” and then eventually to “in the name of Pete” in later years, the exasperation runs strong for this one. Some have changed this one up, developing it into “for the love of Pete” but also substituting other names, like Mike or Sam.

As for the start of For Pete’s Sake Day, it has more recent beginnings that start in the early 2000s. Along with a number of other seemingly useless days, this one was established by Thomas Roy and his wife Ruth, who are the owners of the Wellcat company.

Some people might wonder, why has Pete been singled out for special attention on this day? In the case of this particular minced oath, Pete is likely to refer to St. Peter, who acted as a holy stand-in for the use of “God” or “Christ”.

Such euphemisms have been used for centuries whenever people hit thumbs with hammers, burn hands on hot plates, or sit on sharp things while in polite company. So celebrating For Pete’s Sake Day offers an invitation into a long story of adding a special word in to substitute for foul language, or perhaps a deity of choice.

Even for those who are grown up enough to actually say the swear word, this acts as a fun and silly day to get those “for goodness sakes”, “for pity’s sakes”, or “for heaven’s sakes” out and about – just for the ridiculousness of it.

In any case, today’s version of For Pete’s Sake Day is simply about acknowledging and offering a chuckle around the idea of words and phrases that have been minced and molded to be less offensive in certain company!