# Ne yalan söyleyeyim



## josh612

The phrase "Ne yalan söyleyeyim" comes up in something I'm working on.  I guess it means something like the English equivalent of "well, I won't lie to you" but would the literal translation be rendered "what lie should/can I tell"?  In the next sentence the character tells the truth (in this context she says "yes, you're right, I wasn't very interested").


Are the literal translation I've given and my sense of the phrase correct?  Thanks.


----------



## Nihilus

No, the literal translation would be "Why would I lie?", _ne_ there means _why_. The words meaning why in Turkish (neden, niye, niçin) are derived from the word meaning what (ne - ne+den, ne+ye, ne+için).


----------



## josh612

Yes, I know.  But there was a period at the end of the sentence rather than a question mark...was that likely a typo or does it possibly signify a rhetorical question?


----------



## LunarLord

It's hard to come up with an accurate translation but "*I won't lie to you , ...* " is possibly the best English equivalent of this phrase. Alternatively, "*Allah seni inandırsın , ...*" has a very similar usage. There are also "*Açık konuşayım,...*" , "*Açık konuşacağım,...*" or " *Açık konuşmak gerekirse,...*" etc.

By the way, "*what lie should/can I tell*"? would be a good literal translation. As for the word _ne_, it means  _what_ , not_ why_ . Otherwise it would have been "*Nasıl yalan söyleyeyim*"


----------



## Nihilus

LunarLord said:


> By the way, "*what lie should/can I tell*"? would be a good literal translation. As for the word _ne_, it means  _what_ , not_ why_ . Otherwise it would have been "*Nasıl yalan söyleyeyim*"


Nasıl = How

That aside, while _ne_ obviously means _what_ normally, it has some limited usage as _why_.

For example:

"_Ne_ bakıyorsun bana?" = "_Why_ are you looking at me?"

"_Ne_ geleceğim ya, gelmiyorum işte." = "_Why_ would I come, I'm not coming."

And it's quite clear _ne_ in "Ne yalan söyleyeyim," means _why_ and not _what_. "What lie should/can I tell" could be a literal translation *with a pun* at most.


----------



## spiraxo

Ne yalan söyleyeyim  is an expression of confession or admittance  –  to something that (s)he has not revealed yet. It is not a question,  as it does not seek  a response. Therefore a question mark is not necessary at the end of the sentence.
Rhetorical questions in narrative are “generally” yes/no questions.


----------



## LunarLord

If you use why instead of what , the question seeks a response and the meaning changes(-*Neden yalan söyleyeyim?   - Because, ...*). Sometimes, you can use _Ne yalan söyleyeyim_ to buy some time to ask for a little help from your friend(a wingman for example) before you can come up with a good lie.


----------



## Reverence

"Ne yalan söyleyeyim" roughly means something like "no need to lie". Generally used in situations where the speaker is coming clean, being modest or admitting someone else's accomplishments at the expense of his own pride.

Ne yalan söyleyeyim, adam beni güzel patakladı. - I won't deny it; the guy kicked my butt good.

Ne yalan söyleyeyim, beşte beş yaptım. - To be perfectly honest, I scored five out of five.


----------



## SARI7

There is an omitted part in this sentence. 
In full it goes as: Ne (için/diye) yalan söyleyeyim.
Thus it translates as: (For) what should I lie to you. 
Of course, unlike the Turkish sentence, the meaning will be completely changed if you omit "for" in the English translation.


----------



## hakos

(well) to be honest, 
no need to deny it (anymore),
It is also utilized to gain time for inventing an excuse or to indicate that the speaker will admit an unexpected defeat for sure.


----------

