Entry · catalog no. 1336
God don't like ugly
/ /ɡɑd doʊnt laɪk ˈʌɡli/ /GAHD dohnt lyke UG-lee
phrase · Black Southern church and family speech; nationwide after the Great Migration · 1900s
✓ Verified
1.
A warning that cruel, spiteful or dishonest behavior will be answered — by God, by circumstance, or by whatever comes around. Ugly here means conduct, never appearance.
“She laughed when he lost the job. Two months later she lost hers. God don't like ugly.”
2.
Said to a child in the moment, as a check on a tantrum or a lie.
“Fix your face and apologize. God don't like ugly.”
Origin & Attribution
Black Southern church speech, carried out of the oral tradition and the preaching house rather than out of print. It runs on the Galatians principle — a man reaps what he sows — rendered in plain talk and pointed at the specific person in front of you. The longer form adds "and he ain't too crazy about pretty," which closes the loophole. It moved north with the Great Migration and is still standard in Black families, often delivered by a grandmother and often in place of a longer argument.
1900s
In circulation in Black Southern church and family speech
2001
Mary Monroe publishes the novel God Don't Like Ugly, taking the saying as its title
2003
Appears as the title of a Black women's devotional study from Abingdon Press
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide
Black Southern church and family speech; nationwide after the Great Migration · 1900s
Spoken by
Black grandmothers, mothers and church women above all; Black preachers; general Black family speech
$GODDONThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Steady126 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
60/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1900
in the culture
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@auntiereg
Atlanta, GA
@deltasoul
Memphis, TN
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
Mary Monroe, God Don't Like Ugly, Dafina Books
novel · 2001
■
+ Cite a sourceJessica Tinklenberg deVega and others, God Don't Like Ugly, Abingdon Press
devotional · 2003
See also