英和和英

語源

Ellipsis of if the truth should be told.

発音

間投詞

truth be told

1. (idiomatic) Used when admitting something one might otherwise lie about, e.g. to keep up appearances or be polite.

   Synonyms: admittedly, frankly, to be honest, to tell the truth, truth to tell; see also Thesaurus:actually

   I'm not sure if I can do this, truth be told.

   Actually, truth be told, I just don't like you.

   • 2006, V For Vendetta (movie adaptation)

     Well, certainly there are those who are more responsible than others - and they will be held accountable - but again, truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror.

   • 2023 March 15, Kevin Roose, “GPT-4 Is Exciting and Scary”, in The New York Times‎:

     When I opened my laptop on Tuesday to take my first run at GPT-4, the new artificial intelligence language model from OpenAI, I was, truth be told, a little nervous.

Further reading

• “truth be told”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.