“She told me she had to draw some blood, and I swear I nearly fainted.”
You're afraid of needles. You went to the doctor today and the doctor wanted to do a blood test. You're telling your girlfriend a story of your visit.
She told me she had to draw some blood, and I swear I nearly fainted.
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draw blood
"Drawing blood" means making blood come out of someone's body. You can "draw blood" by cutting yourself or someone else:
A: Ow!
B: What's wrong?
A: I cut myself.
B: Oh, shit. Did you draw blood?
A: Yeah, just a little.
When a doctor or nurse takes blood out of your body to do tests, they say that they are going to "draw some blood".
I swear (clause)!
If you're saying something that's a little hard to believe or sounds like an exaggeration, you can put "I swear..." in front of it. It means "I promise that this is true". For example:
I caught a fish yesterday, and I swear it was as long as my arm!
That aerobics class was brutal! I swear, I've never sweated so much in my life.
One confusing point is that people sometimes say "I swear" even though they really are exaggerating:
I swear, the line at the coffee shop this morning was like an hour long!
English speakers are also likely say "I swear..." when they're angry, to show that they're serious about a threat that they're making:
I swear, if you don't be quiet, I'm going to slap you!
(someone) nearly (did something)
"Nearly" means "almost". You can use it before a verb:
This big truck came zooming by and nearly hit us.
We nearly missed the show because of all the traffic.
You can also use "nearly" with adjectives:
He's nearly grown!
These days, it's nearly impossible for a family to get by on a single income.
(someone) fainted
"Fainting" means going unconscious suddenly. Reasons that people faint include:
- being really surprised or scared
- not having enough sugar in your blood
- getting too hot