grain of truth

grain of truth

A little bit of truth. Often used to refer to a small amount of insight or truth in something otherwise false or nonsensical. The only reason why Dave's joke about my love life bothered me so much is because there was a grain of truth to it.
See also: grain, of, truth
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

(a) grain of truth

even the smallest amount of truth. The attorney was unable to find a grain of truth in the defendant's testimony. If there were a grain of truth to your statement, I would trust you.
See also: grain, of, truth
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • the truth of the matter
  • pour honey in (one's) ear
  • Is there any truth to (something)?
  • Is there any truth to?
  • in truth
  • how the cow ate the cabbage
  • open (one's) eyes
  • open eyes
  • open one's eyes
  • open someone's eyes
References in classic literature
In those cynical words there was indeed a grain of truth.
In this false statement there was mingled a grain of truth. It was true that Francine believed Mrs.
Experience and in-telligence combined to assure me that there could be no slightest grain of truth or possibility in your wild tale--it was fiction pure and simple.
There was perhaps a grain of truth mixed up with this last report.
He could not conceive of the possibility of apparently having passed through such a weird adventure in which there was no grain of truth. That a stomach, disordered by decayed elephant flesh, a lion roaring in the jungle, a picture-book, and sleep could have so truly portrayed all the clear-cut details of what he had seemingly experienced was quite beyond his knowledge; yet he knew that Numa could not climb a tree, he knew that there existed in the jungle no such bird as he had seen, and he knew, too, that he could not have fallen a tiny fraction of the distance he had hurtled downward, and lived.
"Even if there was some grain of truth in the allegations levelled in this case against the appellant still the glaring contradictions in the evidence of the prosecution highlighted above clearly show that the truth, in this case, had been mixed with a lot which was untrue," the ruling, which freed Bibi of the charges and sentence against her, said.
Like all good myths this one contains a grain of truth too.
There is more than a grain of truth in PTI's argument that there was precious little it could do upon finding the treasury not just empty, but deeply debt-stressed.
BODYGUARD creator Jed Mercurio has said some of the fan theories about the conclusion of the show do have "a grain of truth".
Taylor, love, just in case there's a grain of truth in this, here's a woman-to-woman reality check.
Whilst this was an amusing aside it contains more than a grain of truth. The Newcastle Gateshead inspector's report articulates the wildly different forecasts that have been made over the past six years on growth.
There is, no doubt, a grain of truth in many of the stories she has taken to highlighting for the benefit of my health.
Fortunately, it didn't quite come to that but there was more than a grain of truth in the assessment.
"According to various media outlets I've negotiated with several clubs and already signed a pre-contract with Barcelona, but there isn't a grain of truth in any of it," said the World Cup winner.
The opposition in Malaysia are trying to make a fuss about the lack of human rights and racism and religious intolerance in the country, he noted, but that characterization, he stressed, lacked a grain of truth, which is that Malaysia has followed the course of democracy for five decades with noticeable success.