as I live and breathe

Phrase

as I live and breathe

1. (dated) Used to declare the truth of a statement with emphasis.
   • Dear Ma'am, why will you chagrine yourſelf about a vile Man, that is not worth,—no, as I live and breathe,—not worth a ſingle Sigh?—1760, [Arthur] Murphy, The Way to Keep Him, a Comedy in Three Acts: […], Dublin: Printed for G. and A. Ewing, […], →OCLC, act I, page 10
   • [O]ch, as I live and breathe, I would consider myself worse than the beast of the field, if I would be so ungrateful to my lady, who is now in distress.1827, George Boswell, Maria of the Mountain; or, The Castle of Balahana. (Founded on Facts.), London: Printed for the author, by R. Brown, […], →OCLC, page 15
2. (dated) Used to express surprise at an experience one is witnessing.
   • Eh? What? Mercy alive! Hilda—Hilda, look here! Bab, as I live and breathe!1864, Amelia B[lanford] Edwards, “The Torso of the Belvedere”, in Barbara’s History. A Novel (Harper’s Library of Select Novels; no. 241), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, publishers, […], →OCLC...
   • Well, well, as I live and breathe, it's Svend! My, what a great and dangerously huge fellow you have become!1992, Örn, “When the Footprints Become Covered with Snow”, in Kirsten Wolf, Árný Hjaltadóttir, transl., Western Icelandic Short Stories, Winnipeg, Man.: University of Manitoba Press, →ISBN, page 138

   Synonyms:

   as I live, I declare

3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see as, I, live, and, breathe.
   • I sha'n't forget that night, Mr. Simple, as long as I live and breathe.1833, [Frederick Marryat], chapter XVI, in Peter Simple. […], volume II, London: Saunders and Otley, […], published 1834, →OCLC, page 276
   • Even as I live and breathe in this natural world all around me, I still find myself looking, minute-by-minute, with great interest and attention, for the supernatural work—that is—the miracles, the "extra-ordinary" events ordered by God.2000 May, Terrance L. Weber, “Faith”, in Anchors of Faith: How to Live the Christian Lifestyle, [Bloomington, Ind.]: [Xlibris], →ISBN; republished as How to Cope … with Life, [Bloomington, Ind.]...