Cross My Heart

Cross My Heart

On page 353 of Dark Star by Alan Furst, our hero, Andre, has managed to cadge some coffee from the maids at the hotel where he and several other refugees have spent the night:

"There is only a little left," the dark girl said. "You won't tell, will you?"

"Never. It's our secret." He drew an X over his heart with one finger and she smiled.

He drew an X over his heart? Umm, golly gee, that sounds a whole lot like 

'cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye'

which I don't think I've heard since I was in elementary school. A little Googling turns up this explanation Ragan's PR Daily:

Though no one is certain exactly where this expression came from, many believe it originated from eras of plague and contagion. Centuries ago, infectious diseases often swept through communities quickly, sickening and killing people en masse.

To contain and treat the disease, those who died of infection were often buried in mass graves or were buried quickly after death. This sometimes led to an unconscious or comatose patient being mistakenly pronounced dead and buried. To avoid this, caregivers were said to stick a needle in the eye of the patient to ensure his or her death.

To say “cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye” was to seek assurance that you would not be buried alive.

It's not great, but it sounds at least plausible. Doesn't really explain why little kids would thoroughly enjoy repeating it, other than children can be gruesome little creatures.

And while we're at it, I used the word 'cadge' in my opening sentence. I haven't heard that word in a coon's age.