说老实话

• Pinyin: shuō lǎo shi huà
• Hanzi breakdown: 说 = 言 + 兑; 老 = pictograph of an old person with a cane — old, experienced; 实 = 宀 (roof) + 贯 (string of coins) — solid, real; 话 = 言 + 舌 (tongue)

Meaning

To tell the truth; to be honest; to speak frankly. A discourse marker used to signal that the speaker is about to say something candid or frank.

Functions as a sentence-initial discourse marker similar to 'honestly' or 'to be frank with you'. Used to preface a statement that the speaker considers to be the genuine, unvarnished truth, often in contrast to what they might say in a more polite or diplomatic context. Common in casual and semi-formal speech.

Examples

1. 说老实话，我觉得这个方案还有很多可以改进的地方。 To be honest, I think this plan still has a lot of room for improvement.
2. 说老实话，他这次的表现并没有达到我们的预期。 To be honest, his performance this time didn’t meet our expectations.
3. 说老实话，我当时根本没想到这件事会发展到这一步。 To be honest, I never imagined things would develop this far back then.

Usage Guide

Context: honesty, conversation, feedback, disclosure

Tone: direct

Do Say

• 说老实话，这家餐厅的口碑虽然不错，但今天这顿饭的味道确实没有达到预期水准。(To be honest, although this restaurant has a good reputation, today's meal genuinely didn't live up to expectations.)
• 说老实话，在评估这个候选人时，我们团队内部对他的实际工作能力还是存在一些顾虑的。(To be frank, when evaluating this candidate, our team still had some reservations about his actual work capabilities.)

Don't Say

• 不能频繁使用 说老实话 来修饰每一个观点 — overuse diminishes its impact and can make the speaker seem as though their other statements are not sincere

Origin & History

说 (say) + 老实 (honest, straightforward) + 话 (words, speech) — to say honest words

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal