- English translation
Ask a thief to swear he's innocent, and he'll say, "Saved at last!"
- Literal wording
They said to the thief, "Swear." He said, "Relief has come."
- Meaning and lesson
The saying pictures a suspected thief who is offered a way out of the accusation: he only has to take an oath. For someone with no scruples about lying, swearing is effortless, so he greets the demand as a rescue rather than a test of his honesty.
It applies when a person facing a grave problem is asked to do something trivial to escape it. It often carries irony about weak safeguards, such as relying on promises or oaths from people who will gladly give them and feel no obligation to keep them.
- When it is used
Use this wryly when someone escapes a serious consequence through a trivial condition that assumes integrity they lack. It suits teasing about lax checks, empty pledges, or easily dodged punishments. Aimed at a sincere person, it can sound like an accusation of dishonesty.
- Register
- colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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