ProverbCommunication
English origin
English originChildren and fools speak the truth.
Meaning: Unguarded honesty emerges from those lacking social filters or awareness of consequences.
Origin: Recorded in A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, an undated collection published in London by Whittaker & Co. around 1880 and credited to Thomas Preston. Its earlier history hasn't been traced.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, German, Dutch, and Turkish
French: Les enfants et les fous disent la vérité (literally: Children and madmen tell the truth)
Spanish: Los niños y los locos dicen la verdad (literally: Children and fools speak the truth)
German: Kinder und Narren sagen die Wahrheit (literally: Children and fools tell the truth)
Dutch: Kinderen en gekken zeggen de waarheid (literally: Children and fools tell the truth)
Turkish: Çocuktan al haberi (literally: Get the news from the child)
Explore another collection: Compliments & Insults
Compliments and insults from around the world, from the sweet to the savage.
- Che rompiscatole What an insufferable pest — someone who endlessly pesters and never lets you be.
- Testa quadrata A rigid, inflexible blockhead who refuses to see beyond their fixed ideas.
- È un mammone An overgrown man who can't make a decision without his mother — the Italian archetype of…
Keep exploring