как бог свят

• КАК БОГ СВЯТ obsoles, coll

[Invar; usu. this WO]

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1. [sent adv (parenth) or predic (with subj: это or a clause)]

⇒ undoubtedly, definitely:

- as sure as I'm standing here;

- surely;

- you can be darn sure.

     ♦ Между тем уважение к Надежде Петровне всё росло и росло. Купцы открыто говорили, что, "если бы не она, наша матушка, он [помпадур] бы, как свят бог, и нас всех, да и прах-то наш по ветру развеял!" (Салтыков-Щедрин 2). Meantime the respect in which Nadyezhda Petrovna was held grew and grew. The merchants were saying quite openly, "Were it not for her, that dear lady of ours, he [the pompadour] would surely have murdered us all by now and scattered our dust and ashes to the four winds!" (2a).

2. [sent adv (parenth) or indep. clause]

⇒ (used to emphasize one's sincerity and trustworthiness) I swear, honestly:

- I swear it;

- I swear to God!;

- (as) God is my witness;

- honest to God <to goodness>;

- [in limited contexts] I swear before God;

- cross my heart (and hope to die).

     ♦ "Ты женишься, или я тебя прокляну, а имение, как бог свят! продам и промотаю, и тебе полушки не оставлю!" (Пушкин 3). "You will marry her or, I swear it, I'll curse you and sell up this whole estate and squander the money so that you won't get a single farthing" (3b).

     ♦ "Как вам не стыдно было, - сказал я ему сердито, - доносить на нас коменданту после того, как дали мне слово того не делать?" - "Как бог свят, я Ивану Кузьмичу того не говорил, - отвечал он, - Василиса Егоровна выведала всё от меня. Она всем и распорядилась без ведома коменданта" (Пушкин 2). "Didn't you feel any shame in denouncing us to the commandant," I asked him angrily, "when you'd given your word that you wouldn't?" "God is my witness, I said nothing to Ivan Kuzmich," he replied. "Vasilisa Egorovna wormed the secret out of me. It was she who saw to it all without the commandant's knowledge" (2a).