[Ads-l] to truth-tell

[Andy Bach]

>  The OED has truth, v., from 1888 when used in the sense of “to tell the
truth,”

Would Colbert have "truthiness-tell"?

On Wed, Dec 2, 2020 at 2:32 PM Baker, John <JBAKER at stradley.com> wrote:

> No verb “to truth”?  What, was Nancy Sinatra (or, actually, Lee Hazlewood,
> her lyricist) committing a neologism when she sang, “You keep lying, when
> you oughta be truthin'”?  (In These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ (1965), for
> those who don’t recognize the lyric.)
>
> The OED has truth, v., from 1888 when used in the sense of “to tell the
> truth,” although the usage is disparagingly tagged as “US colloquial and
> regional” and it mainly seems to be used in contrast to lie, v.
>
>
> John Baker
>
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> On Behalf Of
> Laurence Horn
> Sent: Wednesday, December 2, 2020 1:52 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: to truth-tell
>
> External Email - Think Before You Click
>
>
> Well, extrapolating from Mark’s original post, I’d say it’s blocked by the
> verb “to lie”, while there’s no corresponding verb “to truth”. Not clear
> what “to lie-tell” would communicate that “to lie” wouldn’t.
>
> LH
>
>
> > On Dec 2, 2020, at 1:39 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
> <mailto:wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>> wrote:
> >
> > 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<mailto:
> 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.
> >>
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> >>
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
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> http://www.americandialect.org>
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a

Andy Bach,
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