I wish I may be shot

English

Phrase

I wish I may be shot

1. (colloquial, archaic) A form of mild swearing used to emphasis the truth of an assertion; accompanied by if and the opposite of the assertion.
   • 1842, William Harrison Ainsworth, Ainsworth's Magazine, page 90:

     It's a joke — if it isn't, I wish I may be shot.

Alternative forms

• I hope I may be shot

References

• John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary