Sunday, March 16, 2008

bold face liar or bald face liar? 76:365

So, my friends were having a conversation about which is correct...calling someone a bold face liar or a bald face liar. So...I decided to look into it.

Taken from Merriam-Webster Online

The truth is this: both are used, and so is barefaced. Bald-faced is the newest term; its first known print appearance dates back only 62 years, to 1943. Bold-faced is some four centuries older than that, dating to 1591. Although you might guess bald-faced developed out of a mishearing of bold-faced, the meanings of the two adjectives are not synonymous. Bold-faced means "bold in manner or conduct; impudent"; bald-faced has the same meaning as barefaced: "open; unconcealed"; and "having or showing a lack of scruples."

Barefaced is one year older than bold-faced; its first print appearance dates to 1590. But the original meaning of barefaced was literal: it meant "having the face uncovered," either "beardless" or "wearing no mask." Not surprisingly, folks using the word barefaced were open to shifting the adjective into the metaphoric realm: barefaced soon came to describe something "unconcealed or open"; and then something "showing or having a lack of scruples."


Interesting. So I guess what we learned here....is to say it however you want to. Mkay?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow this is facinating

Anonymous said...

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmkay