AN ADAGE A DAY- ENCOURAGEMENT
Heavens to Betsy!
By Carole Gilbert
Heavens to Betsy! It’s December! It’s a time when we’re excited to see family and friends and celebrate the holiday together. We’re happy to see every Tom, Dick, and Harry and our favorite Jack of all trades. Also, Fancy Nancy and Chatty Cathy are on our minds. It’s a time to lift up and give joy to everyone, even and especially, Debbie Downer and Negative Nelly. It’s when we celebrate the birth of our Lord!
So, we exclaim, “Heavens to Betsy!” What a time of the year! But who was Betsy? It was not Betsy Ross, the woman who sewed our American flag. In fact, I googled and researched, and no one really knows who Betsy was. But whoever Betsy was, she made enough of an impression on somebody that they used her when they responded with excitement, “Heavens to Betsy!”
I heard this idiom on the radio one day when I was traveling. It was actually a preacher that said it in one of his sermons. It surprised me to hear this phrase from a preacher.
I thought out loud, “Wow! That seemed strange. I haven’t heard that phrase in a long time.”
My great grandmother said this phrase quite often when I was growing up. She used it when she was excited, surprised, and sometimes even aggravated. It’s a good old phrase and one for all those unexpected moments like the one I had when I saw that my granddaughter had gotten into chocolate! And it’s a good one for Christmas. And you might ask, “How is this phrase associated with Christmas?” I looked up Betsy at Christmas and was shocked. “Heavens to Betsy!” There are quite a few!”
There are famous bakers of Christmas treats, like Betsy Ann American Chocolates and her special Christmas varieties that started in 1938. This is one of my favorite of the Betsys I found. I thought about trying her chocolates, but they seem to be mostly at Macy's and the closest one to us is two hours away. So shuckers, I’ll have to wait. There are also Hallmark ornament collections, one named, “Betseys Country Christmas,” by artist Betsey Clark. There are movie characters like Betsy in the movie A Christmas Carol, and Christmas themed books, with the main character named Betsy. Other Betsys include the lady I previously mentioned, Betsy Ross. And adding to the list is a restaurant named Betsy’s, like the one at Evelyn Park in Bellaire, Texas, in the Houston area.
As I continued to research, there are no Biblical references for “Heavens to Betsy” but there are quite a few verses in reference of heaven for us. One of my favorites shows the same excitement as the idiom I'm talking about.
Psalm 97:6
The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.
While this idiom Heavens to Betsy dates to the mid 1800’s, seeing and proclaiming God’s glory dates a lot further back than that. And while there’s no known origin of the idiom’s creator, its meaning is of excitement, surprise, or fear, the same emotions we will experience when we get to heaven. I bet there will be a lot of people saying this phrase, “Heavens to Betsy,” when their time comes. If my jaw rises enough to speak, I know I will.
Betsy sounds like a fun name to have. I don’t know any Betsys. Do you? However, the main thing I want to relate to you now, thanks to Betsy, is that I hope, whether you’re a Betsy or not, or even if you know a Betsy or not, that you, this Christmas, have many, “Heavens to Betsy” moments!