Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[zephyrblows]

Hi,teachers:

I saw a sentence like this:
"Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation."

Would you tell me why is "Truth be told" written here?
Thank you very much!!

[Kristea]

Hey -

"Truth be told" is a way of saying "the truth is." It is an odd phrase. Whenever I hear it, it tells me that the speaker may be given the impression of something that may not be true.

In this case, the speaker may believe his audience had the impression that he has attended a college graduation of his own, when in fact he has not. The closest he has gotten to graduating is atteneding a graduation where is not a graduate.

Does that make sense? If not, I'll try again.

- Kristea
_________________
"That man is a success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much." R.L. Stevenson

[LucentShade]

"Truth be told" is a "set phrase" that uses the English subjunctive, even though most people don't recongnize that it is subjunctive. It comes from "If the truth be told," meaning, "If I were to tell the truth, [I would say ***]"

[zephyrblows]

So, does "truth be told" mean
"If I don't tell you the truth, you'll never know that..."