English Language & Usage Asked on September 25, 2021
When speaking of (alleged) attempts to lie or cover up the truth, someone might say “truth will out,” an expression that seems to make no sense: where is the verb?
“Will” can be used as a verb, but it only works in connection with another verb, as in “He wills it to happen.” “Out” can also be used as a verb, but it’s a transitive verb: “Bob outed Alice as a spy.” Neither of these conditions apply in this phrase.
If the word “come” was added in there, we would have “truth will come out,” which is both grammatically correct and appears to clearly convey the meaning of the phrase. But it gets used without any verb, which makes the meaning of the phrase a lot less clear.
What exactly does “truth will out” mean, and why is the expression used in such an ungrammatical way?
It is idiomatic, a the similar expression “murder will out” is from Chaucer (14th c.). The sense appears to be from “out” used as a verb here meaning:
Out:
sense of "disclose to public view, reveal, make known" has been present since mid-14c.
(Etymonline)
is from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, 1596:
LAUNCELOT: Nay, indeed, if you had your eyes, you might fail of the knowing me: it is a wise father that knows his own child. Well, old man, I will tell you news of your son: give me your blessing: truth will come to light; murder cannot be hid long; a man's son may, but at the length truth will out.
(Phrase Finder)
The phrase "truth will out", or "truth will become public", appears as early as William Shakespeare's works, in particular, the Merchant of Venice. It may have been an entirely new concept of Shakespeare's, as he sees the need to explain its meaning as analogous to murder will out.
(Wiktionary)
From Chaucer, "Nun's Priest's Tale," c.1386:
Mordre wol out that se we day by day.
(Etymonline)
Answered by user 66974 on September 25, 2021
The phrase "truth will out" basically means that no matter what one does to cover something up, the truth WILL get out. It is used in such an ungrammatical way because it was quoted from writing by Shakespeare.
Answered by Taryn Lambert on September 25, 2021
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