As far as oaths are concerned, even though all those who are not of the common run of men guard themselves from taking the name of God in vain, especially in oaths, there are still some small offshoots of this sin which, although not among the most severe transgressions, should nevertheless be avoided by those who wish to be Clean. As has been stated (Shevuoth 36a), "R. Eleazar said, 'No' is an oath and `Yes' is an oath. Rava said, `Only if one said 'No, No'-twice or `Yes, Yes' -- twice.' " And, (Bava Metzia 49a), " `A righteous measure' (Leviticus 19:36) - your `No' should be righteous and your `Yes' should be righteous."




does it just mean that if you said you'll do something you should stick to it?

<By the way, despite the lengthy hiatus, we will be more than halfway through this sefer if we complete this Ch. 11 here, so don't be shy we can do it>

Hey, I remember this gemara. The context of the citation is that there are different formulae for accepting an oath made by another person; 'yes' or 'no' are two of those, same as responding 'amen'.

It sounds like a gemara where I would read it and translate all the words, and then go "huh" and go ask someone in a higher shiur what the heck that sentence means.

I think you'd understand it in context, it's just a sentence that needs proper punctuation to make any sense.