tale

tale

tale a tale never loses in the telling proverbial saying, mid 16th century, implying that a story is often exaggerated when it is repeated.
a tale of a tub an apocryphal story; mid 16th century. The phrase was used as the title of a comedy (1633) by Ben Jonson, and then in 1696 (published 1704) as the title of a prose satire by Swift; the allusion was to Hobbes's Leviathan and its criticism of contemporary religion and government.

See also old wives' tale, tales.

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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "tale." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "tale." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-tale.html

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "tale." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-tale.html

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Tale

Tale

a number of things; a list or series; a tally or total.

Examples : an exact tale of the dead bodies, 1722; tale of fair children, 1864; goodly tale of folios, 1826; of lambs (the total number), 1697; tale of oysters (quantity by which they are sold), 1594; of good works, 1732.

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"Tale." Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. 1985. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Tale." Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. 1985. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2505301551.html

"Tale." Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. 1985. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2505301551.html

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tale

tale
A. †talk, discourse OE.; what is told, story, narrative XI;

B. reckoning, number XII. OE. talu = OS. tala (Du. taal speech), OHG. zala (G. zahlnumber), ON. tala talk, tale, number :- Gmc. *talō, f. *tal-, as in *taljan TELL. Sense B was prob. from ON.

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T. F. HOAD. "tale." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "tale." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-tale.html

T. F. HOAD. "tale." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-tale.html

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tale

tale / tāl/ • n. 1. a fictitious or true narrative or story, esp. one that is imaginatively recounted. ∎  a lie. 2. archaic a number or total: an exact tale of the dead bodies. PHRASES: tell talessee tell1 .

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"tale." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"tale." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-tale.html

"tale." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-tale.html

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tale

tale The word used as a technical term in Form Criticism as the English translation of German Novelle—nine miracle stories in Mark and five in John.

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W. R. F. BROWNING. "tale." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

W. R. F. BROWNING. "tale." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O94-tale.html

W. R. F. BROWNING. "tale." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O94-tale.html

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tale

taleail, ale, assail, avail, bail, bale, bewail, brail, Braille, chain mail, countervail, curtail, dale, downscale, drail, dwale, entail, exhale, fail, faille, flail, frail, Gael, Gail, gale, Grail, grisaille, hail, hale, impale, jail, kale, mail, male, nail, nonpareil, outsail, pail, pale, quail, rail, sail, sale, sangrail, scale, shale, snail, stale, swale, tail, tale, they'll, trail, upscale, vail, vale, veil, wail, wale, whale, Yale •Passchendaele • Airedale •Wensleydale • Clydesdale •Chippendale • Coverdale • Abigail •galingale • martingale • nightingale •farthingale • Windscale • timescale •blackmail • airmail •email, female •Ishmael • voicemail • vermeil

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"tale." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"tale." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-tale.html

"tale." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-tale.html

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