Be nat wrooth, my lord, though that I pleye. Ful ofte in game a sooth [truth] I have herd seye!
[c 1390 Chaucer Monk's Prologue l. 1964]
Manie suith word said in bourding [jesting].
[a 1628 J. Carmichaell Proverbs in Scots no. 1099]
Many a true word hath been spoke in jest.
[c 1665 in Roxburghe Ballads (1890) VII. 366]
‘I did a very foolish thing yesterday.’‥‘They say, many a true Word's spoken in Jest.’
[1738 Swift Polite Conversation i. iii.]
There actually are Johannis churches here‥as well as Apollinaris ones. ‥There is many a true word spoken in jest.
[1898 G. B. Shaw Widower's Houses i. in Plays Pleasant & Unpleasant I. 10]
By the time we have finished I expect we shall have a dozen or more [children]. ‥Many a true word is spoken in jest.
[1979 D. Lessing Shikasta 356]
Related to: truth
Bibliography of major proverb collections and works cited from modern editions is available here.
