God's honest truth
5
6.1
- idiom
- Informal
:
la pura verdad
- That's the God's honest truth.
- tell the God's honest truth
Examples
-
When I say the project is failing, it's God's honest truth; we need to act fast.
-
It's the God's honest truth.
-
Not a story, but God's honest truth.
-
This is the God's honest truth.
-
That's God's honest truth!
Fiction book (1996) -
I promise you, this is God's honest truth.
-
You can trust my words; it's God's honest truth that I didn't make those mistakes.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Shows that something is true or certain
∞
1.0
In a real and honest way
691
1.1
Said when you want to stress that you really mean what you say
227
4.5
Say you are being honest before you speak
221
2.3
To show you are telling the truth or how you really feel
84
3.8
Actually, what is said is true even if people think otherwise
48
3.2
To say something that is true even if it is surprising
17
3.7
To tell the truth to show you really mean it
17
5.6
You say it to show you are honest, even if it sounds awkward
4
4.4
A fact that is completely true and cannot be doubted
2
8.2
Say it to promise that what you say is true
1
7.9
Truly real and not fake
A Latin word for truth used in English to show honesty or factual accuracy
A Latin phrase people use to say that something is true, often in serious speech
How Sincere
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly built from the constituents: 'honest' modifies 'truth' (sincere truth) and the possessive 'God's' functions as an emphatic intensifier. A B1 learner who knows the words and possessive construction can infer this is a forceful way to say something is completely true, so the phrase is compositionally transparent despite being a conventional emphatic formula.
Etymology
God's honest truth may come from the old habit of people swearing by God to prove they were telling the truth, and adding honest made the promise sound extra strong. So people say it today to mean something is completely 'true' and 'sincere'.