Meaning & Analysis
A person who tells outrageous lies deserves a 'whetstone' as a mock prize or, in some historical contexts, as a stone to be hung around their neck as a mark of public shame and punishment.
Insights
Ironic Prize for Deceit
The proverb functions as a sarcastic award for dishonesty. The whetstone is presented as the 'trophy' one wins in a competition for telling the most audacious lie, mocking the liar's achievement.
The Burden of Falsehood
As a heavy object worn publicly, the whetstone symbolizes the social and moral burden of one's lies. It is a tangible representation of the weight of dishonesty and the shame it brings.
A Tool to Sharpen Lies
A whetstone sharpens blades. Giving one to a liar ironically suggests they can use it to further 'sharpen' their tongue or their deceptive craft, highlighting the incorrigible nature of the person.
Historical Folk Custom
The proverb originates from a specific historical custom where a whetstone was given as a mock prize or hung around the neck of a notorious liar as a form of public shaming, making it a powerful cultural shorthand for identifying egregious dishonesty.
Elizabethan Cultural Trope
The quotations from authors like Lyly and Nashe firmly root the expression in Tudor and Stuart England, where it was a familiar trope signifying a lie so grand it was worthy of a sarcastic award.
Psychology of Performative Dishonesty
The proverb frames lying not just as a transgression but as a perverse skill or competitive act. To 'lie for the whetstone' suggests one is vying for the title of the greatest liar, revealing a psychological attitude that views spectacular dishonesty with a kind of dark, theatrical humor.
Symbolism of Sharpness
The whetstone, a tool for sharpening, ironically becomes a symbol for the liar's 'sharp' tongue or wit. This reflects a cynical acknowledgment that deceit often requires a twisted form of cleverness.
Rhetorical Devices
Sarcasm
The core of the proverb is sarcasm, treating a moral failing (lying) as a competitive event where the 'winner' receives an absurd prize (a whetstone).
Symbolism
The whetstone serves as a tangible symbol for the abstract concept of a monumental lie, representing both the 'sharpness' of the deceit and the heavy burden of its shame.
Historical Allusion
For its contemporary audience, the phrase was a direct allusion to a known folk custom of punishing liars, allowing for a concise and powerful social condemnation.
Transcription
Quotations
Yet ys not long syth I made a lye. I will haue the whetston, and I may.
Where doth Frances fabler now lie, Iane? At signe of the whetstone in double tunge lane.
If I met with one of Creete, I was ready to lye with him for the whetstone.
Libles, Calumnies, Saunders, Lies for the whetstone, what not.
O intolerable lying villayne, that was neuer begotten without the consent of a whetstone!
They will presently giue both these Authors and me the Whetstone for rare untruths and fictions.
Now that this is a Lye well worthy of a Whetstone, yourself (I hope) will acknowledge.
Also a grosse lye, as wee say a gudgeon or lying for the whetstone.
(He will lie).
To utter things notoriously false, to tell loud lyes, and stretching stories, to lye for the whetstone.
(They deserve).
(He deserves).
Said of a liar.
You shall have the Whetstone.
Explanation
[A liar was punished by having a whetstone hung around his neck.]
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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