Dear/dearie me

Origin of: Dear/dearie me

Dear/dearie me

This is a polite invocation that variously expresses sympathy, surprise, distress or criticism, very much dependent on the context. Its diminutive, dearie me, is also very popular meaning oh dear. All these variations are thought to be minced oaths, more polite and perhaps more acceptable forms of dear God, oh dear God, and my dear God, all of which date from the early 1600s.