adv. (colloquial).—Alive occurs as an intensive and expletive: e.g., ALIVE AND KICKING = very sprightly, ALL THERE (q.v.); also ALL ALIVE; MAN (HEART, or SAKES) ALIVE! (an emphatic address); TO LOOK ALIVE = to make haste; ALL ALIVE (tailors’) = slovenly made (of garments).
c. 1845. HOOD, Agricultural Distress, vi. Says he, ‘No matter, MAN ALIVE!’
1857. DICKENS, A Christmas Carol, 43. Why, bless my HEART ALIVE, my dear, how late you are!
1858. T. HUGHES, The Scouring of the White Horse, 29. The Squire … told the men to LOOK ALIVE and get their job done.
1889. Globe, 4 Oct., 1. 3. His mother, the playwright’s widow, as well as another son, named Gordon, were—to use a popular phrase—ALIVE AND KICKING.
