[Ads-l] say the quiet part out loud

Wed Jul 2 13:26:49 UTC 2025

Probably not, but one of the Simpsons writers, an overeducated bunch if there ever was one, may very well have.

-----Original Message-----
From: "Jonathan Lighter" <00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, July 2, 2025 9:09am
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: [ADS-L] say the quiet part out loud

Krusty read Pascal?

Who'd'a thunk?!

JL

On Wed, Jul 2, 2025 at 9:05 AM Laurence Horn <
00001c05436ff7cf-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> Taking a step back, I’ve been struck by the sense that the expression of
> saying the quiet part out loud evokes a echo, or perhaps an inversion, of a
> resonant line from Pascal that appears in his mockery of the contemporary
> Jesuits’ doctrine of mental reservations, the contortionist methods
> proposed for escaping responsibility for apparent lies through a radical
> intentionalist view of meaning. Here’s Pascal’s commentary in the form of
> a dialogue between an honest if apparently naîve narrator and a
> (fictitious) Jesuit priest, from his ninth Provincial Letter (1656), pp.
> 101-2,
> https://archive.org/details/leslettresprovin00pasc/page/102/mode/2up.
> The translation is mine based on the standard 1856 translation by Thomas
> M’Crie (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/73959/pg73959-images.html),
> p. 199.
>
> “Here is something new: the doctrine of mental reservations. A man may
> swear, as Sanchez says..., that he never did such a thing (though he
> actually did it), meaning within himself that he did not do it on a certain
> day, or before he was born, or understanding any similar circumstance,
> while the words he employs do not reveal his meaning. And this is very
> convenient in many cases, and quite innocent, when necessary or conducive
> to one’s health, honor, or well-being.”
> “Indeed, Father! Is that not a lie, or even perjury?”
> “No,” said the Father; “Sanchez proves it is not, and our Father
> Filiutius as well, because, he says, 'It is the intention that determines
> the quality of the action'. And he suggests a still surer method for
> avoiding falsehood, which is this: After saying aloud, 'I swear that I have
> not done that', to add, in a low voice, ‘today'; or after saying aloud, 'I
> swear', to interpose in a whisper, 'that I say', and then continue aloud,
> 'that I have done that'. This, you perceive, is telling the truth.”
> “I grant it,” said I; “it might possibly, however, be found to be
> telling the truth quietly, and a lie out loud.”
>
> [dire la vérité tout bas et un mensonge tout haut]
>
> LH
>
> > On 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
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 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

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