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19/05/2014
發誓與粗口
I swear，我發誓。Don’t you swear. 你別講粗口。看上面兩句短句，很明顯，swear 既是發誓， 亦指粗口。什麼時候解作什麼， 視乎within what context，要看對答前後的內容。說一個人常常用上swear words：He oftenuses a lot of swear words，就是指這人常說髒話，喜用foul language。但粗口的定義，往往人言人殊，見過一個英文粗口字詞表，就包括了hell 地獄及bloody 血淋淋的。例： “Bloody people,” he swore under hisbreath.
他低聲地詛咒︰ 「通通衰人。」Swore 係swear 的過去式。一樣用做動詞，下面兩句就是發誓了︰”I don’t know where the money is, I swear,”the prime suspect said. 「我不知道錢在哪，我發誓。」頭號疑犯說。
“Never again will I trust him,” she swore.「我以後都不再信他了。」她發誓說。
一些發誓， 可以很隆重， 像to swearallegiance 是宣誓效忠；移民到了外國，就要swear allegiance to your adopted country。那是真有誓言的。而to swear someone in，就牽涉一個宣誓儀式，a swearing-in ceremony，主角通常會以被動形態出現，being sworn in。例： Obama was sworn in for a secondterm. 奧巴馬宣誓連任。
例： He was sworn in as president of theclub. 他宣誓成為俱樂部的主席。
很多時候說的起誓，卻也並非真的指天喃喃有詞，說的是to make a solemn promise，嚴肅地承諾。
例： She made me swore not to tell whatshe has told me. 她要我好好承諾，不把她告訴我的話說出去。跟中文一樣，英文也可發毒誓，那就天馬行空，anything goes。但發重誓，一般有兩款用語：I swear on my mother’s grave that’s whathappened. 我以亡母之名義發誓，這就是事發經過。
I swear on a stack of Bibles… 在法庭，通常以一本聖經宣誓作供，這話就誇張地以一疊聖經自證說實話了。