Bruce,

Can you clarify this for me? Does this respond to my puzzlement about how a
phrase whose literal meaning paraphrases as "May God help me" has come to
have the sense "I swear this assertion is true"?

Dick

On Tue, Jan 22, 2013 at 5:21 PM, Bruce Despain <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Dick,
> The performative of an oath is replaced by a declarative assertion by
> Avery.  The performative meaning would be:"I assert that I did not, so help
> me God" so that the performance needing authority from God is the
> assertion, not the deed.
> Bruce
>
> --- [log in to unmask] wrote:
>
> From: Dick Veit <[log in to unmask]>
>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Analyzing "so help me God"
> Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2013 09:02:18 -0500
>
>
> In the future, when I need information on any language question, I will
> simply write, "So help me, Herb!" Thanks, all who replied, for your erudite
> responses.
>
> A follow-up: Since the phrase literally means "May God help me in this," I
> find it curious that it has come to signify "I swear I am telling the
> truth" ("Asked if he raped the man accusing Engelhardt and Shero, Avery
> said: 'I did not. So help me God'." [reference<http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/So-Help-Me-God-Ex-Priest-Recants-Plea-187354151.html>]),
> which has nothing to do with asking for divine assistance. If anything, the
> intent is "May God punish me if I lie."
>
> Dick
>
>
> On Mon, Jan 21, 2013 at 10:53 PM, Stahlke, Herbert <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
>
>  Dick,
>
> The OED Online gives the following as the third entry under "help, v."
>
>  *c.* In *subj. pres.*, in invocations and oaths: *esp.* in so help me God,
> the customary formula in a solemn oath; and in God help him (them, etc.) ,
> often a parenthetical exclamation of pity for the helpless condition of the
> person spoken of. Also ellipt. so help me, and as a variant so help me bob
> ."help," then, would be, as the OED says, present subjunctive, hence no
> agreement.  The subject verb inversion would, I think, be due to the
> initial adverb "so."  We get such inversion regularly with negative
> adverbs, as in "Never had I seen one before," but it feels a bit archaic
> with "so," and I think it is archaic.  What's odd is that the SVI also
> moves the subject "God" beyond the object "me."  I don't have an
> explanation for that.
>
> Herb
>
>  Herbert F. W. Stahlke, Ph.D.
> Emeritus Professor of English
> Ball State University
> Muncie, IN  47306
> [log in to unmask]
>  ------------------------------
> *From:* Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [
> [log in to unmask]] on behalf of Dick Veit [[log in to unmask]]
> *Sent:* Monday, January 21, 2013 1:16 PM
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> *Subject:* Analyzing "so help me God"
>
>  Starting with FDR, presidents have appended "so help me(,) God" to the
> end of the inaugural oath. Can someone parse the phrase for me? When people
> say, "So help me!" they mean something like "I swear to God" or "May God
> punish me if I am not telling the truth." They don't seem to mean a
> supplicative "May God help me."
>
> I would be grateful for an informed analysis of how the actual words
> signify the phrase's meaning.
>
> Dick
>
>

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