- English translation
He swears to me and I take his word, then I watch how he actually carries on and can only stare in disbelief.
- Literal wording
He swears to me, I believe him; I see his affairs, I am astonished.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying describes a person who swears firmly about something and is believed by the listener. Later, his actual conduct and circumstances turn out quite different from what he vowed, leaving the listener baffled and incredulous, not admiring, at the gap.
Applied to people, it marks one particular person whose oaths and promises cannot be relied upon, not oath-takers in general. It is a rueful judgment that his word deserves no credit, since his behaviour keeps contradicting it.
- When it is used
Use this when someone has sworn or promised something, been believed, and then acted in plain contradiction to it. It wryly signals that the speaker no longer gives that person's oaths or pledges any weight.
- Register
- colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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