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+--- Thread: Everything about "pox leber" as a minced oath, and an earlier source. (/thread-5148.html)
RE: Everything about "pox leber" as a minced oath, and an earlier source. - Koen G - 17-03-2026
Jojo: check this page, number 4 explains everything: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Machine translation to English:
Quote:Particular attention is earned by sam in protestations [oaths], always in the combination sam mir gott ("so help me God") and the like, with the verb omitted. Sam mir are frequently written as one word and subsequently distorted in manifold ways.
Lexer (Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch 2, 591) cites: sammir, samir, samer; sammer, somer, sommer, summer, zummer; semmir, semir; even selmir, slemmir. (See Grimm, Rechtsalterthümer 895).
So basically, it's "so help me God", but in the German word order "so me God help". This was used so often and so recognizably, that the verb could be omitted. The omission of the verb can probably also be seen in the same way that Gott becomes potz or pox. They still want to use the phrase for effect, but at the same time lessen it a bit.
The page also mentions "samer potz huͦr" as an example of "häufig völlig sinnlose entstellungen".
RE: Everything about "pox leber" as a minced oath, and an earlier source. - JoJo_Jost - 17-03-2026
RE: Everything about "pox leber" as a minced oath, and an earlier source. - Koen G - 17-03-2026
RE: Everything about "pox leber" as a minced oath, and an earlier source. - Bernd - 17-03-2026
RE: Everything about "pox leber" as a minced oath, and an earlier source. - Aga Tentakulus - 17-03-2026
RE: Everything about "pox leber" as a minced oath, and an earlier source. - JoJo_Jost - 17-03-2026
RE: Everything about "pox leber" as a minced oath, and an earlier source. - Battler - 17-03-2026
RE: Everything about "pox leber" as a minced oath, and an earlier source. - Ryszard - 18-06-2026