For The Love Of Pete

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Growing up I had heard the expression or saying or whatever you want to call it, “For the love of Pete.” The problem is, I have no idea who Pete is or was. There was no one in the family named, Pete. Ok, ok. I know it was just a saying, but why Pete? Why not George or Fred? Or someone else. Why not a woman like Mary or Jane? Or why not a generic like Grandpa. “For the love of Grandpa.” Yeah, that would work. I suppose Pete came from the saying, “For Pete’s sake.” But again, why Pete? So I did a bit of research and found the name “Pete” most likely came from Saint Peter. It was considered less blasphemous than saying, “For the love of God,” or “For God’s sake” (although I heard those as well when I was growing up). These things were said when something out of the ordinary happened or when one of us did something that we were not supposed to do. “For the love of Pete, why did you do that?” Or if the cows got out and behaved badly when trying to get them back in the corral. That might bring about a “For the love of Pete” or “For Pete’s sake.” But what did Pete have to do with it? It was the cows behaving badly, not Pete. I guess it was just something to say to keep from swearing.