Idiom
cross my heart
Meaning
A declaration that the speaker is telling the truth.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“I will return your book tomorrow, cross my heart.”
“I am telling the truth about the money, cross my heart.”
“I cross my heart that I will be there to help you move.”
“I did not break your favorite vase, cross my heart and hope to die.”
“I promise to keep your secret safe and won't tell anyone at the office, cross my heart.”
“You can trust me to pick up the kids on time today, cross my heart and hope to die.”
“I have no idea who ate your lunch from the shared fridge, cross my heart, because I brought my own meal today.”
“She looked him directly in the eyes and, cross my heart, swore that she had never seen the missing documents before that moment.”
Examples
simple
“I will return your book tomorrow, cross my heart.”
“I am telling the truth about the money, cross my heart.”
“I cross my heart that I will be there to help you move.”
contextual
“I did not break your favorite vase, cross my heart and hope to die.”
“I promise to keep your secret safe and won't tell anyone at the office, cross my heart.”
“You can trust me to pick up the kids on time today, cross my heart and hope to die.”
“I have no idea who ate your lunch from the shared fridge, cross my heart, because I brought my own meal today.”
complex
“She looked him directly in the eyes and, cross my heart, swore that she had never seen the missing documents before that moment.”
Origin
A shortened form of the oath "cross my heart and hope to die," with the physical gesture of making the sign of the cross over the chest serving as a silent witness to one's sincerity. While the full phrase is not recorded in print until the mid-19th century, the truncated version serves as a verbal shorthand for the same underlying commitment to the truth, however precarious.
Key words
Related idioms
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