So help you God

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GoodTaste

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USAToday's video shows Biden's presidential oath ending with "So help you God."

Usually we know it is "So help me God" which invokes the devine Providence to help the president himself. So I wonder whether "So help you God" means something different.

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"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help you God."

so help you God.JPG Click to enlarge.

Source: USAToday Biden's inauguration day ends with a wave and a massive firework show
 

Rover_KE

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The prompter says 'So help you, God'.

The President says 'So help me, God'.
 

GoesStation

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Note that the presidential oath of office was written into the US Constitution in 1787. The text reads

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.​

Capitalization and punctuation rules were different then.

In 2008, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts muffed his recital of it. As I recall, President Obama said it correctly instead of repeating Roberts' words. Just to make sure there could be no doubt the new President had been lawfully sworn in, they repeated the oath-taking later in the Oval Office of the White House.
 

jutfrank

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Is the prompter really meant to say So help you God? He doesn't have a problem with saying the first person pronoun I, so I can't really see why he can't say me too.

It feels and sounds a little like a misspeak to me. Is that possible?
 

GoesStation

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Is the prompter really meant to say So help you God? He doesn't have a problem with saying the first person pronoun I, so I can't really see why he can't say me too.

It feels and sounds a little like a misspeak to me. Is that possible?

He should have said "me". Roberts isn't great at this. :)

He may have been thinking of the way American court bailiffs prompt witnesses: Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
 

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He may have been thinking of the way American court bailiffs prompt witnesses: Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

Yes, great point. I suspect that's it.
 

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Samuel Beckett said that when people called on God to be a witness, they could call on no worse a witness as He couldn't confirm the facts.
 

Tdol

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If he meant So help you God, he is implying that Biden will face trouble. I guess it's simply a slip, Biden said do do, but he has a stammer. Some will claim it is senility, but politics is a warzone nowadays. I see nothing to suggest that he didn't mean to say you.
 

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If he meant So help you God, he is implying that Biden will face trouble.

Ha, yes, that's what I thought—a Freudian slip. He's thinking "God help you, Joe!" :lol:
 

Phaedrus

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The prompter says 'So help you, God'.

The President says 'So help me, God'.

Great point. You can witness the interaction here.

I believe that "So help me God" is a subjunctive clause in which "God" is not the addressee but, rather, the subject.

So help me God. <--> God help me so.

Interestingly, "So help me god" (without a comma) is also found at the end of the Oath of Allegiance taken by those seeking U.S. citizenship:

"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."
 

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I didn't notice before that Mr Roberts delivers the line as a question! :lol:

So help you God?

Perhaps he's enquiring "Do you promise that God will help you?" :-?
 

Phaedrus

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I didn't notice before that Mr Roberts delivers the line as a question! :lol:

So help you God?

It's essentially a parenthetical insertion that is part of the preceding clause. Compare: "I will, so help me God, shed light on this construction."
 

jutfrank

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It's essentially a parenthetical insertion that is part of the preceding clause. Compare: "I will, so help me God, shed light on this construction."

I don't follow. Please explain.
 

Phaedrus

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I don't follow. Please explain.

"So help me God" is a subjunctive clause. "God" is not being addressed. "God" is the subject of the clause. A comma before "God" is wrong.

"So" is fronted in the subjunctive clause. "So help me God" derives from "God help me so." "So" is anaphoric.

"So help me God" always relates to another clause (with appropriate semantics).

"So help me God" can come at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a clause.

If you respond again with "I don't follow. Please explain.," rest assured that I will ask you to elaborate as to what it is you don't follow.
 

GoesStation

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If you respond again with "I don't follow. Please explain.," rest assured that I will ask you to elaborate as to what it is you don't follow.
If this is going to become an academic discussion of grammatical arcana, I'd like you and Jutfrank to start a new thread in the "General Language" forum, please.
 

Phaedrus

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If this is going to become an academic discussion of grammatical arcana, I'd like you and Jutfrank to start a new thread in the "General Language" forum, please.

I just wanted to correct the comma in Rover's post, lest it confuse the OP or other onlookers. We can forget about how interesting the construction is.
 

jutfrank

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If you respond again with "I don't follow. Please explain.," rest assured that I will ask you to elaborate as to what it is you don't follow.

Sorry, Phaedrus, I think we got our wires crossed. My post #12 was meant only to point out the odd way that he delivers the line with rising intonation. I wasn't saying anything about grammar. I understand your grammatical explanation, and I find it very interesting. I thought your comment in post #13 was somehow related to mine, that's all.

If this is going to become an academic discussion of grammatical arcana, I'd like you and Jutfrank to start a new thread in the "General Language" forum, please.

:) I don't think that will be necessary. This was just a misunderstanding. (I should get some sleep.)
 

Rover_KE

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In that case ... thread closed.
 
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