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Reader question: Please explain “goodness knows” in this sentence: “Interest rates are low, material costs are down and goodness knows construction workers need the work.” My comments: In other words, everybody knows. Goodness is a substitute word for God. “Goodness knows” means the same as “God knows”. This is largely an exclamation to express surprise or simply for emphasis. To paraphrase the example at the top: Interest rates are low, material costs are down and construction workers need the work – everybody knows that! Depending on context “goodness knows” can mean the opposite – nobody knows. Many Chinese boys and girls, for example, hate sports and refuse to muck in on the sports field. Goodness knows why, but they do. Anyways, “goodness” as replacement for “God” takes other forms too. Another most commonplace phrase, for example, is “for goodness’ sake”. That’s the same as “for God’s sake” or “for Christ’s sake”. To the average Chinese who’s not born and bred religious, of course, that means exactly the same as “for heaven’s sake”. The reason why “goodness” replaces the word “God” is, I think, due to respect for the latter. If you’re religious, you, too, perhaps don’t want to hear the word “God” uttered pointlessly in every sentence, especially if it’s on the lips of non-believers. | 
