ProverbCommunication
English originc. 1390
English originc. 1390Many 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: What seems a joke is very often true)
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