tell the truth

tell the truth

An exhortation to speak honestly. Come one, tell the truth—you liked Jack when you first met him, didn't you? Tell the truth, Betty—where did all this money come from?
See also: tell, truth

to tell (you) the truth

I must admit; to be honest; in actuality. To tell you the truth, even though I majored in English literature, I've never read anything by Hemingway! I know I said I wanted to go out to the bars tonight, but to tell the truth, I'd rather just stay home and watch a movie.
See also: tell, truth
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • to tell (you) the truth
  • tell the truth and shame the devil
  • tell (one) about (someone or something)
  • tell about
  • don't give me that line
  • don't give me that story
  • don't hand me that line
  • don't hand me that story
  • tell
  • I can tell you
References in periodicals archive
Sometimes it's hard to tell the truth and other people might not like what you have to say, but it's worth it.
FA damning report into the British public's trust of professions revealed that just 19 per cent of the public say they trust those running the country to tell the truth.
And just 15% feel immigration is managed competently and fairly, with a meagre 13% trusting MPs to tell the truth about the subject.
"At some point, somebody has to tell the truth. I know that's not quite the DNA these days, people telling the truth, but at some point you got to tell the truth: Draymond ain't trying to bait nobody.
'Who knows, some policemen stricken by their conscience (might) tell the truth and reveal real crimes of killing innocent people without respect for the judicial process,' he stressed in an interview.
"If you are fake, you try always to not tell the truth, to try to find a way to say it differently.
"We must be realistic and tell the truth - I prefer to tell the truth than a good lie.
When T-- captures a brutal assault by the bullies on camera, he knows he should tell the truth, but what if telling the truth isn't always the answer?
Sometimes they were told whether to lie or tell the truth, and sometimes they made that decision themselves.
TEHRAN (FNA)- If you want your child to tell the truth, it's best not to threaten to punish them if they lie.
He said that when the family asked the woman to tell the truth, "she did not give a convincing answer."
Growing up I always made it a point to tell the truth no matter what.
When a child is young, it will naturally tell the truth. Most usually, it starts to learn to lie (consciously or unconsciously) when it discovers that it is not believed when it tells the truth or it is blamed and punished for telling the truth (particularly if the truth is unpalatable to a parent or other adult).
Asked if he had any complaints about Bell's ordering off, Shiels said: "I'm not allowed to tell the truth. Vincent Lunny won't allow me to tell the truth so I can't talk about officials.
It's never too late to tell the truth. There's going to be consequences," News.com.au quoted Hamilton, as saying.