[Ads-l] to truth-tell

[Jonathan Lighter]

Any Google hits for to "lie-tell"?

If not, why not?

JL

On Wed, Dec 2, 2020 at 9:40 AM MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY CCDC
AVMC (USA) <0000099bab68be9a-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

>
>
> > Although if we stick to the transitive verb construction (as I suspect
> JL would have us do),
> > we have the nice minimal pair:
> > "to tell *the* truth” vs. “to tell *a* lie”
> > —lots of alternatives to the truth, but no alternative truths (or facts)
>
> Which is why the "tell my truth", "tell her truth" construction is so
> rankling, I suppose.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org