on earth

See also: on Earth

English

Alternative forms

• on Earth

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

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Prepositional phrase

on earth

1. Expletive used for emphasis after an interrogative word.
   • 1895, Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest […] , [Act I]:

     Really, if the lower orders don’t set us a good example, what on earth is the use of them? They seem, as a class, to have absolutely no sense of moral responsibility.

   • 1992 April 26, “Hot Off the Press”, in Jeeves and Wooster, Series 3, Episode 5:

     A. Fink-Nottle: But it's absolute balderdash, Bertie. I mean, listen to this: "Sure and begorrah, I don't know what's after being the matter with you, Michael." I mean, what on earth is this "what's after being" stuff mean?
     B.W. Wooster: My dear old Gussie, that is how people think Irish people talk.

   • 2013 October 31, Rowena Mason, quoting David Steel, “Lord Steel criticises culture of spin and tweeting in modern politics”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     How on earth are we supposed to hold our heads high as the 'mother of parliaments' when we allow to continue the practice of almost openly buying a seat in parliament?

Synonyms

• (intensifier): See Thesaurus:the dickens

Translations

expletive giving emphasis after interrogative word

• Catalan: dimonis (ca), diables (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 究竟 (zh) (jiūjìng), 到底 (zh) (dàodǐ)

• Danish: i alverden
• Dutch: in vredesnaam (nl), in hemelsnaam, in godsnaam
• Finnish: ihme (fi), kumma (fi)
• French: diable (fr), donc (fr)
• German: in Gottes Namen (de), in Herrgotts Namen, in aller Welt, um alles in der Welt, um Himmels willen, um Himmels Willen
• Italian: mai (it)
• Japanese: 一体 (ja) (いったい; ittai), 自体 (ja) (じたい; jitai), 一体全体 (いったいぜんたい; ittaizentai)
• Korean: 도대체 (ko) (dodaeche), 대체 (ko) (daeche)
• Norwegian: i all verden
• Polish: na Boga (pl), -ż (pl), jakim cudem
• Portuguese: diabos (pt), raios (pt)
• Romanian: Dumnezeu (ro), doamne
• Russian: вообще́ (ru) (voobščé)
• Serbo-Croatian: zaboga (sh), pobogu, kvragu, dovraga (sh)
• Swedish: i hela världen

Anagrams

• A. N. Other, A.N. Other, AN Other, another