Shevuot 23: Oaths about Food and Drink; Exemptions

Our daf begins with verses that are suggested as proof texts for the assertion that an oath regarding "eating" includes the act of drinking.  In this discussion we learn that there is a dish called "anigron" which is a dish made with beets.  "Achisigron" is a dish made from cooked vegetables that aren't beets.  The rabbis return to the question of whether or not "eating" does in fact include drinking.  If so, the consequence for breaking one's oath could be more severe.  The rabbis speak further about whether a person might be eating things unfit for consumption.

Regarding our Mishna's claim about making an oath not to eat three types of bread and then eating them, becoming liable to be punished for each.  The rabbis wonder whether this person might have intended to make the oath about consuming grains, or raw grains, or one bread of three grains, or something else.  Does a person need to say the word "bread" three times in his/her oath?  Or make a separate oath for each item?  Similarly, the rabbis ask this about drink.  Must a certain amount of drink or a certain type of drink be specified in the oath?

Similarly the rabbis discuss collective oaths and what might be considered to be a collective oath.  Then they return to their conversation about whether any amount eaten is liable or whether there is room for exemptions based on a person's intentions, the circumstances, or numerous other factors. 

It seems that the rabbis are searching for loopholes in a halacha that might result in  consequences.  They say, "a person must have been thinking x", or "did this person mean to say y?"  The rabbis do not want people to transgress.  They want to provide us with as many opportunities as possible to keep our promises.