sakes alive

Sakes alive is an old-fashioned exclamation of surprise or astonishment, a mild oath that avoids profanity: Sakes alive, I haven't seen you in twenty years!

The phrase invokes "sake" in its religious sense—for heaven's sake, for goodness' sake—softened to near-meaninglessness.

It sounds quaint and rural, more likely heard from an elderly relative than in contemporary speech.