Swearing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
To swear can mean either to make an oath, or to utter profanity.
A court witness will have to swear to tell the truth, sometimes by the name of a deity or upon things considered holy, for example a Bible or a Qur'an though individual jurisdictions around the world may not allow alternatives while others may allow wide variation of choice upon what to swear or affirm an oath on.
Use of this type of swearing in inappropriate or trivial circumstances, or in some traditions "taking the Lord's name in vain," is often considered wrong or sinful. The term swearing in common speech took on this meaning. Some current swearwords have this literal origin, either in straightforward use, for example for Christ's sake, or by way of a minced oath.
[edit] See also
Look up swear in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
- Minced oath
- Australasian Police Multicultural Advisory Bureau has several publications for Australia dealing with multi-faith issues and A Practical Reference to Religious Diversity for Operational Police and Emergency Services covers oaths as well as many other topics (in review as of 12/2/2006 but the 2nd Edition is available.
- North Carolina faith leaders supporting Quran oath
- for comments about John Quincy Adams' Oath of Office.
