[Ads-l] say the quiet part out loud

Wed Jul 2 19:05:12 UTC 2025

Fascinating, LH. There are multiple translations of Pascal's
"Provincial Letters" into English. Some are still circulating via
reprints. Further below is the translation used in Penguin Books.

LH used an instance in the article "Practice to deceive: A natural
history of the legal bluff" in the 2022 collection "From Lying to
Perjury: Linguistic and Legal Perspectives on Lies and Other
Falsehoods".

1830: telling truth in a whisper, and a lie in an audible voice
1847: telling the truth in a low key, and falsehood in a loud one
1967: telling the truth under one's breath and a lie aloud

Date: 1967 Copyright; Reprinted 1982 and 1988
Book Title: The Provincial Letters
Author: Blaise Pascal
Translation by: A. J. Krailsheimer
Publisher: Penguin Books
Quote Page 141

[Begin excerpt - please double check for errors]
'No,' said the Father; 'Sanchez proves it in the same place, and our
Father Filiutius too, tr. 25, ch. xi, n. 331: "because", he says, "it
is the intention which determines the quality of an action." And he
adds, n. 328, another safer means of avoiding a lie; after saying
aloud "I swear that I did not do that" you add under your breath
"today" or after saying aloud "I swear" you say under your breath
"that I say", and then go on aloud "that I did not do that." You see
that that is telling the truth.'

'I admit that,' I said; 'but we might find that it is telling the
truth under one's breath and a lie aloud; anyhow I am afraid that a
lot of people would not have enough presence of mind to use such
methods.'
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Wed, Jul 2, 2025 at 9:27 AM dave at wilton.net <dave at wilton.net> wrote:
>
>
> 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

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