Hand to God

[paul johnson]

paul johnson

Since at least the mid fifties I've heard and used "Right hand to God"
used in Chicago, haven't heard it much in the last 20 years, but now I
live in Arkansas.

On 3/11/2011 8:02 AM, Karl Hagen wrote:
> Someone in an online forum asked about "hand to God" as an equivalent to
> what she (and I) would say as "I swear to God" (i.e., a strong assertion
> that something is true), asserting that she is suddenly hearing it a lot.
>
> I hesitate to say that this is new (recency illusion and all that) but
> it's certainly new to me. I don't see it in DARE, and a quick search of
> Google Books turns up a lot of 19th century examples of "lift your hand
> to God" and the like but nothing early with the "I swear" sense.
>
> Is this an established regional term that is now spreading, or is it
> really new?
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

--



"And so another day fails to meet its promise and
has spun out into procrasturbatory entropy."
                        David Rakoff

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org