as I live and breathe
Exclamation of surprise
An exclamation of surprise or amazement at encountering someone or something unexpected, especially a person one hasn't seen in a long time: Well, as I live and breathe, it's Tommy Wilson!
The phrase emphasizes the speaker's astonishment—as if swearing on their very existence that they can't believe what they're seeing.
Old-fashioned and theatrical, now often used with ironic flair.
- well I neverExclamation of surprised indignation
- bless my soulMild surprised exclamation
- good graciousGentle interjection of astonishment
- I declareQuaint surprised exclamation
- my wordMild interjection of surprise
I'll be darned · goodness me · heavens · astonishment · disbelief · surprise · exclamation · gasp · shock · recognition · reunion · sight for sore eyes · doorstep · unexpected · visitor · ghost · apparition · back from the dead
as I live and breatheno way
Emphatic denial
impossible · yeah right · as if · in your dreams · get out of here
breathe, lived, living, alive, lively, livelihood, liver, breathed, breathing