# "The Truth Hurts" in Spanish

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-hurts-in-spanish/837674>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 26, 2019, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-hurts-in-spanish/837674 "2019-07-26T16:09:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2019, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-hurts-in-spanish/837674/1 "2019-07-26T16:09:03Z")

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A friend and I were discussing this. Neither of us are L1 Spanish speakers, but we both have relatively-decent understandings of the language. He rendered the English phrase “The truth hurts” as “La verdad duele.” That may be the textbook translation, but it’s hitting my ears wrong, for a couple of reasons.

1. My understanding of the Spanish verb “Doler” (“To hurt”), and admittedly high school Spanish was three decades ago, is that it needs an object to make sense. For example, “La verdad me duele,” “The truth hurts me.”

2. Spanish is a poetic language, and a truism like “The truth hurts” deserves something with a little more panache. I suggested “Dolorosa es la verdad,” “Painful is the truth.”

Spanish speakers, what’s the Dope on how this phrase is rendered in your tongue?

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**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2019, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-hurts-in-spanish/837674/2 "2019-07-26T16:21:23Z")

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“La verdad duele” in Mexican Spanish, and I suspect, all versions of Castellano.

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**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-truth-hurts-in-spanish/837674/3 "2019-07-26T16:27:31Z")

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[RAE](https://dle.rae.es/?id=E5H1Ikj) classifies doler as intransitive so it doesn’t take an object.