Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2013 March 30

= March 30 =

doubt
what is the meaning of "i sware on my throat"? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 115.242.175.225 (talk) 05:16, 30 March 2013 (UTC)


 * If you would deign to tell us where you saw that, you might actually get an intelligent answer. Looie496 (talk) 05:58, 30 March 2013 (UTC)


 * What Louie means is: Would you please tell us where you heard that?  We would love to help you, but we need more information.  --   Jack of Oz   [Talk]  06:58, 30 March 2013 (UTC)


 * No matches found for any spelling of swear. Common expressions are "swear on oath", "swear on [someone's] life", and "swear on a stack of bibles".  I suppose one can swear on anything, but, as others have pointed out above, the context is important to shades of meaning.    D b f i r s   08:04, 30 March 2013 (UTC)


 * It means (for example):

Did you kill the lamb? No I didn't! I swear on my throat! ''So if you are guilty... I shall take your throat and feed it to the lambs!''


 * You could swear on your life, or your pig's, or your lamb's... You could swear on anything. ☯ Bonkers The Clown  \(^_^)/  Nonsensical Babble  ☯ 10:11, 30 March 2013 (UTC)


 * It sounds like it means "I swear on my life". That is, "If I'm proven wrong, you can kill me". StuRat (talk) 14:06, 30 March 2013 (UTC)


 * As in the old kids' saying, "Cross my heart and hope to die" if not telling the truth. And the line from The Godfather, "I swear, on the lives of my grandchildren..." ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 15:11, 30 March 2013 (UTC)


 * And by the way, "sware" is an archaic spelling of "swear". ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 15:13, 30 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Right, because assuming the OP is a time traveler and not merely a poor typist is the correct interpretation of the situation. -- Jayron  32  15:36, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
 * I think the most likely scenario is that the OP has encountered this phrase, spelled the way he wrote it, in his reading and doesn't understand it, perhaps precisely because he doesn't know that sware is an archaic past tense of swear. Angr (talk) 11:52, 31 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Er, no. 'Sware' is an archaic form of 'swore', eg Psalms 95:11: "Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest." Your reference clearly shows that. And what Jayron said. AlexTiefling (talk) 17:19, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Oops, you're right, it's past tense. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 17:36, 30 March 2013 (UTC)