Many a true word is spoken in jest.
Meaning: Humor provides cover for uncomfortable truths that people avoid stating seriously.
Origin: Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (c. 1390) already has "Full oft in game a sooth I have heard say" — often in play I have heard a truth told — and Shakespeare's King Lear has "Jesters do oft prove prophets." A joke can carry what cannot be said directly.
Equivalents in Italian
- Italian: Quel che pare burla, ben sovente è vero (literally: Many a true word is spoken in jest)
More proverbs about Communication
- Judge not a ship as she lies on the stocks. — Don't evaluate a vessel's true worth until it's launched and tested at sea.
- He tied a knot with his tongue he couldn't undo with his teeth. — Careless words spoken in haste create consequences far harder to retract than they were t…
- Laws catch flies, but let hornets go free. — Powerful people evade justice through legal loopholes while the powerless are punished fo…
- He lies as fast as a dog can trot. — Persistent deceit flows so naturally that the liar never pauses or hesitates in their fal…
- Life lies not in living, but in liking. — Contentment and satisfaction matter more than mere existence or the accumulation of exper…
- Listeners never hear good of themselves. — Eavesdroppers discover harsh truths because people speak candidly when unobserved, unlike…
From our compliments & insults
- できる人 (dekiru hito) — Said of someone highly capable and impressive — the kind of person who makes things happe…
- 懐が深い (futokoro ga fukai) — You're broad-minded, generous of spirit, and able to embrace the complexity of others wit…
- Você é um amor — You're a sweetheart — warm, caring, and impossible not to like.