"Tell It Like It Is"

[Wilson Gray]

Even the later variant,"tell it like it T-I 'tis," is older than the
song, in my experience.

-Wilson



On Feb 16, 2008 6:05 PM, Brenda Lester <alphatwin2002 at yahoo.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Brenda Lester <alphatwin2002 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "Tell It Like It Is"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Fred,
>
>   The rhythm and blues classic, "Tell It Like It Is" came out in 1966, but I'm sure the phrase was around long before that.
>
>   bl
>
>
>
> "Shapiro, Fred" <Fred.Shapiro at YALE.EDU> wrote:
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> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: "Shapiro, Fred"
> Subject: "Tell It Like It Is"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Can anyone illuminate the origins of the phrase "tell it like it is"? Wikipedia says Howard Cosell had a catchphrase, "I'm just telling it like it is," but I am not sure how that fits in to the history of the expression.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
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--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
                                              -Sam'l Clemens

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