Backwoodsman got if perfectly when he said of "heaven forfend" that it "Sounds more like the kind of pretentious bollox that some overpaid Chelsea-dwelling barrister might come out with in order to discombooberate his pals whilst supping his champagne in a trendy wine-bar."

Heh! That's exactly how I see it. Now, if the poster is deliberately trying to sound pretentious as a form of humour, well then, that's okay. It's people who use the expression unconsciously, not aware of how phony and pretentious it sounds, those are the people who trouble me. I think they should drop it and say "heaven forbid" instead. "Heaven forbid" has an honest, straightforward, Republican sound to it. Clint Eastwood or John McCain would NEVER say "heaven forfend!", they would say "heaven forbid!" Only wimps, pansies, and gormless liberal wusses who are completely beyond redemption use expressions like "heaven forfend!"

Amos - One cannot use a completely fictional word that one has made up on the spot "incorrectly". I was not aware that "forfend" was even a real word when I used it in the deathless quote you allude to. I thought I had made up a brand new word when I said "forfend". As such, I can use a brand new word or what I think is a brand new word any way I want to, nicht wahr? If I had thought it was a real word, THEN I would have been using it incorrectly.

Do you get the distinction? ;-)