Mark My Words – Meaning and Origin

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Candace Osmond

Candace Osmond studied Advanced Writing & Editing Essentials at MHC. She’s been an International and USA TODAY Bestselling Author for over a decade. And she’s worked as an Editor for several mid-sized publications. Candace has a keen eye for content editing and a high degree of expertise in Fiction.

Mark my words is an idiom used to emphasize that what someone is saying is important and should be remembered or heeded, often because they believe it will happen or become true in the future. It’s a way of saying, “Take note of what I’m saying, because it’s significant or prophetic.” It’s often used to add weight to predictions or warnings, so this phrase carries a sense of gravity and authority.

Idioms are unique expressions in a language whose meaning cannot be understood from the ordinary meanings of its individual words. They help add flair to our conversations, and they’re important to understand for communicating and picking up nuances from others.

Stick around as I go over its meaning, origins, and proper usage, complete with examples to make you a maestro of this phrase.

Mark My Words Meaning Explained

Mark My Words – Meaning and Origin 1

Mark my words is an idiom that functions as an imperative, urging the listener to heed the speaker’s words carefully. It’s mostly used to lend importance to a statement and often precedes predictions, warnings, or pivotal pieces of advice. It’s your verbal highlighter, making your words impossible to ignore.

Here, the word mark is actually a verb that means take notice.

Another way of saying it is “mark me,” which means, “Remember what I just said. It’ll be important later.” Bonnie Prince Charles says it a gazillion times in one of my favorite T.V. shows, “Outlander,” and it always stuck with me.

Origin and Etymology of Mark My Words

Mark My Words Ngram
Mark my words usage trend.

This old-timey phrase has origins in the English language, going back to at least the 15th century. The word “mark” here is used in the sense of take note of or pay attention to, emphasizing the weight of the statement that comes after it.

One of the first known publications of it was in a translation of the holy Bible in a verse that reads, “Take hede, and heare my voyce, pondre and merck my wordes wel.”

Mark My Words Synonyms

Mark My Words in Sentence Examples

Mark My Words – Meaning and Origin 2

  • Mark my words, this new project will be groundbreaking for our business.
  • You better mark my words; this is your last chance.
  • I don’t think they should be underestimated; mark my words, they’ll surprise you.
  • Mark my words, that decision will come back to haunt you, big time.
  • Don’t make the same mistake I did; you mark my words.
  • You’ll regret not taking this opportunity; you mark my words.
  • They say they’ll deliver my books on time, but mark my words, there’ll be a delay. There always is.
  • Mark my words, you’re going to wish you saved that money instead of blowing it.
  • Do you think you can ignore the rules at work? Mark my words, you can’t.
  • You mark my words. This is the dawn of a new era for us writers.

Your Verbal Highlighter

Mark my words is an old idiom that still works today, so play around with it and see how others react to the addition to your vocabulary. Feeling empowered? I thought so. For more tips, tricks, and tasty idioms, keep reading our collection of articles. Mark my words, you won’t regret it.