Swear is a verb, not a noun!

[Wallace]

You don't say a "swear", you say a "swearword"

huh??????????

I've NEVER heard 'a swear'. Who says that?

Sorry to upset you but in the extreme North of Scotland and some of the Islands you would hear "He made a swear". (Followed by much shock)

I think my children must have picked it up at school:

"So-and-so said a swear!"
No they didn't they said a swear word.

"So-and-so did a swear at me!" No they didn't they stuck their fingers up at you...

I guess it is common where you live, Gentle Otter? Does it get on your nerves, or do you just see it as a regional variation?

For some reason it annoys me!

Wallace I'm with you on this one.
Another one I loathe is 'gifting'. In the supermarket they had 'gifting cakes' and a website I was on had a section called ' baby gifting'

WRONG AND BAD GRRRRRRRRRRRRR

GentleOtter ( fab name BTW ) If it's dialect fair enough ...

I think the "swear" thing is slang....

It is lovely to hear people who have Gaelic as a first language speak English.
The sentence construction is quite different and some speak as they would think in Gaelic.