# Why does "liar" have no simple antonym? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 28, 2005, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-liar-have-no-simple-antonym/301544 "2005-04-28T13:54:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-liar-have-no-simple-antonym/301544/1 "2005-04-28T13:54:48Z")
(The usual upfront disclaimer: Mods, if this is in the wrong forum, mea culpa, pls. move.) I’m editing a magazine of logic problems, and the one at the top of the stack at the morning has the heading “Truth-Tellers and Liars.” It’s a pretty standard type of puzzle: a group of people make a series of inter-referential statements and the solver needs to figure out which statements are true and which are false. For some reason, though, I’m stuck on the fact that there’s no simple antonym for “liar” – we use “truth-teller,” but it’s definitely awkward. I guess the simple “why” for this lacuna is that we _expect_ people to tell the truth, so there’s no need for a single word for a person who does. Oh, wait, I need to post this in the form of a question? Okay, how about: Do other languages have a simple term for “truth-teller”? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-liar-have-no-simple-antonym/301544/2 "2005-04-28T13:58:26Z")
The problem you’re going to see is that everybody sees the entire continuum of truth-teller to liar as degrees of liar, i.e., even if you hardly ever lie, that doesn’t make you a truth-teller; it just means you’re not a frequent liar. ---
**Author:** ![marky33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@marky33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marky33)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-liar-have-no-simple-antonym/301544/3 "2005-04-28T14:11:43Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > The problem you’re going to see is that everybody sees the entire continuum of truth-teller to liar as degrees of liar, i.e., even if you hardly ever lie, that doesn’t make you a truth-teller; it just means you’re not a frequent liar. … or just because you tell the odd lie, that doesn’t make you a liar; it just means you’re not an absolute truth-teller. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-liar-have-no-simple-antonym/301544/4 "2005-04-28T14:16:44Z")
What the others said; there is no antonym because there is no distinct _opposite state_ that it would describe. Same, I suspect, with _killer_, _robber_, _preacher_ ---
**Author:** ![marky33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@marky33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marky33)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-liar-have-no-simple-antonym/301544/5 "2005-04-28T14:25:28Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > What the others said; there is no antonym because there is no distinct _opposite state_ that it would describe. > > - That’s not what I was saying, actually. Telling the truth is as absolute as lying, surely - a sliding scale that slides both ways - making that argument redundant. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-liar-have-no-simple-antonym/301544/6 "2005-04-28T14:29:37Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > What the others said; there is no antonym because there is no distinct _opposite state_ that it would describe. > > Same, I suspect, with _killer_, _robber_, _preacher_ Okay, but none of these nouns are based on verbs that have opposites. IOW, there is no such thing as “the opposite of kill,” “the opposite of rob,” “the opposite of preach.” But there is an “opposite” of telling the truth, which is lying. (Or vice versa.) So I guess my real question is, why is there no single word for telling the truth? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-liar-have-no-simple-antonym/301544/7 "2005-04-28T14:35:36Z")
Phooey! Went for “preview” and hit “submit” by mistake. My next point was that there are layers of nouns and verbs here. Killer = person who kills. Liar = person who lies. So for each of these nouns, there’s a verb that it’s based on. To go down one more level, though, there’s a noun associated with “lie” – which is, of course, also “lie.” Hm, so maybe that’s the anomaly, that we have a situation where there’s both a noun and a verb that are the same word, so I’m looking for the antonym of the bottom level noun, and it’s just coincidence that it’s the same word. Liar = person who lies [and] person who tells lies. Murderer = person who murders [and] person who commits murder. No, that doesn’t work, because there’s no opposite of “murder” (the noun). Which smiley goes with “damn, I’m so confused”? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-liar-have-no-simple-antonym/301544/8 "2005-04-28T14:36:41Z")
The opposite of kill is ‘spare’ ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-liar-have-no-simple-antonym/301544/9 "2005-04-28T14:37:07Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > For some reason, though, I’m stuck on the fact that there’s no simple antonym for “liar” Why? Many words don’t have antonyms. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-liar-have-no-simple-antonym/301544/10 "2005-04-28T14:38:15Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > But there is an “opposite” of telling the truth, which is lying. (Or vice versa.) > > So I guess my real question is, why is there no single word for telling the truth? But as you just pointed out, the antonym of “lie” (verb) is “tell the truth” which isn’t a single word. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-liar-have-no-simple-antonym/301544/11 "2005-04-28T14:39:17Z")
Yeah, but at the bottom noun level, there is a pair of antonyms – “truth” and “lie.” Why did “person who tells a lie” get its own noun form but “person who tells the truth” didn’t? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-liar-have-no-simple-antonym/301544/12 "2005-04-28T14:41:21Z")
Sorry – that was in response to **etmiller** – but **scr4** gets the same question – why does “lying” get a single verb but “telling the truth” doesn’t? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-liar-have-no-simple-antonym/301544/13 "2005-04-28T16:17:03Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Do other languages have a simple term for “truth-teller”? Czech has one, and I believe a few other Slavic languages (namely Russian) share it. It’s “pravnik,” which roughly translates to “truther.” 😃 It also means “lawyer.” ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-liar-have-no-simple-antonym/301544/14 "2005-04-28T16:27:43Z")
Cool! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-liar-have-no-simple-antonym/301544/15 "2005-04-28T16:45:07Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Okay, but none of these nouns are based on verbs that have opposites. IOW, there is no such thing as “the opposite of kill,” “the opposite of rob,” “the opposite of preach.” > > But there is an “opposite” of telling the truth, which is lying. (Or vice versa.) > > So I guess my real question is, why is there no single word for telling the truth? Ah, but what is lying? Who says what it true or not? 😕 I could say my brother is bald, since I have a full head of hair and he is receding. But if my uncle was here, it could be disputed because my uncle is really bald. White is said to be the opposite of black - what does that mean? Is eggshell the same as ivory? Is ebony the same as charcoal? Aren’t opposites sometimes what we call the other choice? Is not a yes equal to a no? Is not a no equal to yes? If we think in terms of yes or no, black or white, or up or down, things begin to crash when the was maybe or no response, gray or I don’t know. Catch my drift? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-liar-have-no-simple-antonym/301544/16 "2005-04-28T16:48:28Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > Catch my drift? 😛 Um, no. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-liar-have-no-simple-antonym/301544/17 "2005-04-28T16:51:03Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Sorry – that was in response to **etmiller** – but **scr4** gets the same question – why does “lying” get a single verb but “telling the truth” doesn’t? It’s an interesting question, come to think of it. I think all language reflects the society from which it comes. Societies have norms–things which most people are supposed to do (or not do). If a society creates the word _truther_, for example, it means that this society does not expect most people to tell the truth. But English-language societies have (religious) taboos against baring false witness. We do have related nouns in English that reflect actual social contexts: _whistleblower_, for example implies that most people in an organization keep quiet. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-liar-have-no-simple-antonym/301544/18 "2005-04-28T16:52:03Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > But as you just pointed out, the antonym of “lie” (verb) is “tell the truth” which isn’t a single word. > [@Nancy Sinatra](#): > > You been lyin’ when you shoulda been truthin’ … ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-liar-have-no-simple-antonym/301544/19 "2005-04-28T16:57:15Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > … Well, I HAD managed to forget…bastard. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-liar-have-no-simple-antonym/301544/20 "2005-04-28T16:58:03Z")
> [@Nancy Sinatra](#): > > You been lyin’ when you shoulda been truthin’ Excellent example. A lyricist creates a social realm, and has the liberty to “coin” new vocabulary, based upon theme, metrics, etc. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-liar-have-no-simple-antonym/301544.md?page=2)