Lord love you

English

Phrase

Lord love you

1. Said to express good will toward the listener
   • 1770, Samuel Richardson, The History of Sir Charles Grandison in a Series of Letters:

     Lord love you, can not, cannot you at last give comfort to two honest hearts ?

   • 1880, Mark Twain, A Tramp Abroad:

     The Reverend winced, but said mildly,— “Yes,—we are Americans.” “Lord love you, you can just bet that's what I am, every time! Put it there!”

2. Said to soften the negative impact of something that is said next.
   • 1840, Frederick Chamier, Ben Brace, the last of Nelson's Agamemnons, page 37:

     And, Lord love you, Betsy ! who do you think would marry a soldier in these times ?

   • 1841, Samuel Warren, Ten Thousand A-year - Volume 5, page 138:

     “If, as how, miss, (you see,) it was only ourselves that you had to do with—(but, Lord love you, miss! we're only officers, and has our duty to do, and must do it!)—why, we'd go a little out of our way for to oblige a lady; but the people you must go to is the gemmen whose names is here," pointing to the warrant; "they're the people as the money's owing to -- Quirk, Gamm" --

   • 1847, William Makepeace Thackeray, The Stars and Stripes:

     “There was a woman in our aft-scuppers when I went a-whalin in the little 'Grampus' – and Lord love you, Pumpo, you poor land-swab, she WAS as pretty a craft as ever dowsed a tarpauling – there was a woman on board the 'Grampus,' who before we'd struck our first fish, or biled our first blubber, set the whole crew in a mutiny.