NABOKV-L post 0010345, Thu, 16 Sep 2004 09:34:22 -0700

Dear Eric,

Thanks very much for resending your comments.

I am still puzzled by "thank heavens." I understand the idiom is originally
"thank heaven," but is it wrong as "to make a story short" is? Some English
dictionaries give "thank heaven(s)." Cobuild English Dictionary for Advanced
Learners and Longman Advanced American Dictionary (probably more) contain
"thank God, heavens, goodness," omitting "thank heaven." Does "thank
heavens" sound strange to most native speakers of English?

Best,
Akiko


> on chapter 13
> 45 - "My former stepfather, thank Heavens" Julia is parodying R., "who
> had an exasperating way not only of trotting out hackneyed formulas in his
> would-be colloquial thickly accented English, but also of getting them
> wrong)"

> Eric

----- End forwarded message -----

EDCOMMENT. To my ear, "Thank heavenS" seems more natural. "Thank Heaven" seems
to call for some specific object, i.e., "Thank Heaven for little girls" as
Maurice Chevalier (& HH?) used to sing.