Meanings
- AppalachiaSouthern USdatedpossiblyA minced oath for "Lord have mercy".
"[...] laws-a-mercy! Laws-a-mercy! What shall we do? Everybody that can get away will light out, and who will hep those that have to stay?"
1895, Lilian Bell, A Little Sister to the Wilderness, page 2252 more examples
"Laws-a-mercy!" exclaimed the old lady," I wonder if you kin tell true?" "The science never fails," replied a voice we had heard before. "Will you choose clairvoyance or the cards?" "It does not matter a mite to me."
1856, Invisible Green, William G.] [Crippen, Green Peas: Picked from the Patch of Invisible Green, Esq. ..., page 160"Laws-a-mercy! I gets eight pounds, and Mrs. Jones, thirty pounds and perquisites; and you, a young lady, that knows so much. Laws-a-mercy! what a shame."
1859, F Claudius Armstrong, The Lily of Devon, page 172
Cite this entry
laws-a-mercy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/laws-a-mercy
“laws-a-mercy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/laws-a-mercy. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “laws-a-mercy,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/laws-a-mercy.
Source: laws-a-mercy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.