In this mini episode, you will learn the strange but useful phrase “truth be told.”
Episode 474 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the strange but useful phrase “truth be told.” Send your questions about English and your comments and suggestions to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hi! This is Samantha, from China. And you are listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 474 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
In this episode, I am going to teach you an interesting expression that you might not understand when you first see it. The expression is “truth be told.” Truth be told. That’s t-r-u-t-h, b-e, t-o-l-d. Truth be told.
You might be wondering about the grammar in that expression. Why do we say, “Truth be told” and not something like “Truth is told”?
The answer is this is kind of a formal kind of grammar. It might also seem a little bit old-fashioned. Truth be told. I think this expression is a short form of something like “If the truth be told.”
What does it mean when we say “truth be told,” and how do we use this expression?
“Truth be told” means “actually” or “in fact” or “if I’m being honest.” We use it to introduce a statement that is our honest opinion about something. Maybe our honest opinion might seem strange to somebody, or it might be unpopular in some way, or it might be surprising to somebody. If any of those things are true, we might introduce our opinion by saying, “Truth be told.” It really is just a way of introducing our opinion and maybe signaling that we are saying something in a very honest way.
Let me give you an example of a situation where somebody might say, “Truth be told.”
Imagine that you have gone to see a movie with all of your friends. All of your friends were very excited about seeing this movie. After the movie, everyone is talking about how much they enjoyed the movie. Everyone is saying so many great things about it. Unfortunately, you did not enjoy the movie very much. After everybody has said all of these great things about the movie, someone turns to you and says, “Well, you’re not saying very much. Didn’t you enjoy the movie, too?”
And you say, “Truth be told, I didn’t really enjoy it very much.” Truth be told, I didn’t really enjoy it very much. Here, you would be using “truth be told” as a way of introducing your truthful—your honest—opinion.
When you say, “Truth be told, I didn’t enjoy it very much,” you are saying, “If I’m being honest, I have to say I didn’t enjoy the movie very much.” “Truth be told” is a way of saying, “Well, honestly,” or “If I’m being honest,” or “I will give you my truthful opinion.”
It does seem a little bit formal or old-fashioned. It’s one of those kinds of phrases that is sort of frozen in time. Maybe there was a time when this expression didn’t seem a little formal or a little old-fashioned. We have preserved this phrase. We have brought it into the present from the past. And people use it even though it might seem a little old-fashioned sometimes.
That is “truth be told,” an interesting phrase that I think you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 474 of Everybody ESL. Remember: If you have any questions about English, or if you have comments for me, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Samantha recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with a new episode. And until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. I’ll see you soon. Goodbye!