student asking question

What is the origin of ‘sweet mother of Gandalf’?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

To understand this phrase, you need to understand the reference. Gandalf is a character from the movie trilogy and the books "Lord of the Rings." Gandalf is a wizard and one of the protagonists in Lord of the Rings. The phrase "sweet mother of..." is showing extreme surprise towards something or someone. The boys were very surprised that Liv was able to create her own machine. It is more common to say, "Sweet mother of pearl!" or "Sweet mother of Jesus!" They still have the same meaning as "Sweet mother of Gandalf," but the last word of the sentence is changed. They changed the phrase in order to bring humor to the show and probably to make the show more relatable to their audience.

Popular Q&As

03/22

Complete the expression with a quiz!