[Ads-l] say the quiet part out loud

[John Baker]

Apparently there was a 2006 short film titled “i said the loud part quiet and the quiet part loud.”  It was written, directed and produced by Tara Thorne and featured Jill Barber. That is the earliest reference to the quote that I see (but I did not look very hard). The film did not make much of a splash and is not even on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB). 

The film, like other relatively early references, used the same wording that was in the TV show.  But “said the quiet part out loud” (with no mention of the loud part) seems to have emerged as the now standard wording. 


John Baker


> On Jul 1, 2025, at 4:42 PM, Jonathan Lighter <00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
> 
> Interesting that it took twenty years for many people to notice.
> 
> JL
> 
>> On Tue, Jul 1, 2025 at 2:22 PM Jesse Sheidlower <jester at panix.com> wrote:
>> 
>> This is in fact a Simpsons reference, from the episode "A Star is Burns",
>> from March 5, 1995.
>> 
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMHt481HsFU
>> 
>> Jesse Sheidlower
>> 
>>> On Tue, Jul 01, 2025 at 02:15:40PM -0400, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>> 'To utter openly and unapologetically something that would be expected to
>>> be hidden or kept quiet'
>>> 
>>> I've heard this many, many times on cable news for several years -
>> usually
>>> in political contexts.
>>> 
>>> 2017 _South Florida Sun-Sentinel_ (Fort Lauderdale) (Dec. 2) 11A
>>> [Newspapers.com]:  Sen. Marco Rubio...said the quiet parts out
>> loud...."We
>>> have to generate economic growth revenue...while reducing spending. That
>>> will mean instituting structural changes to Social Security and Medicare
>>> for the future."
>>> 
>>> 2020 _Daily Oklahoman_ (Apr. 8) B2 [GenealogyBank]: It's about him
>>> saying the quiet part out loud regarding how many college coaches view
>>> their players.
>>> 
>>> JL
>>> --
>>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
>> truth."
>>> 
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> 
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> 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."
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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