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Saucer Oath

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When a Chinese is put in the witness-box, he says: “If I do not speak the truth may my soul be cracked and broken like this saucer.” So saying, he dashes the saucer on the ground. The Roman Catholic imprecation, known as “Bell, Book, and Candle” (q.v.), and the Jewish marriage custom of breaking a wine-glass, are of a similar character.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Saturnalia
Saturnian Days
Saturnian Verses
Saturnine
Satyr
Satyrane
Sauce
Sauce (To)
Sauce to the Goose is Sauce to the Gander
Saucer Eyes
Saucer Oath
Saucy
‘Saul
Saut Lairds o Dunscore (The)
Savage
Save
Save the Mark
Savoir Faire (French)
Savoy (The)
Saw
Sawdust Parlance (In)