Lord willing and the creek don't rise

• Variants may replace "(the) Lord" with "God" or "(the) Good Lord," substitute "crick" or "river" for "creek," or capitalize "Creek" based on confusion with the Creek Indian tribe.

Statements of the form "God/Lord willing and (some other condition being met)" are ancient extensions of simple acceptance of God's will in phrases like God willing and Lord willing. "Creek" originated as a reference to creeks flooding and preventing travel, but is sometimes re-interpreted as a reference to the Creek tribe.

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Lord willing and the creek don't rise

1. (idiomatic, US, informal) Barring unforeseen circumstances.

   Synonyms: God willing and the creek don't rise, Lord willing, God willing; more at Thesaurus:God forbid § Antonyms

   Antonyms: hell no, God forbid; see also Thesaurus:God forbid

   Coordinate term: come hell or high water

   Near-synonym: hopefully (sentence adverbial sense)

   Lord willing and the creek don't rise, we'll have that new barn finished in time for the harvest.

• Merriam Webster Word to the Wise (audio)