Telltale vs Tale - What's the difference?
telltale | tale | Derived terms |
One who divulges private information with intent to hurt others.
(chiefly, US, slang) Tattletale; squealer.
Something that serves to reveal something else.
(music) A movable piece of ivory, lead, or other material, connected to the bellows of an organ, whose position indicates when the wind is exhausted.
(nautical) A length of yarn or ribbon attached to a sail or shroud etc to indicate the direction of the flow of the air relative to the boat.
(nautical) A mechanical attachment to the steering wheel, which, in the absence of a tiller, shows the position of the helm.
(nautical) A compass in the cabin of a vessel, usually placed where the captain can see it at all hours, and thus inform himself of the vessel's course.
(engineering) A machine or contrivance for indicating or recording something, particularly for keeping a check upon employees (factory hands, watchmen, drivers, etc.) by revealing to their employers what they have done or omitted.
A bird, the tattler.
(Webster 1913)
revealing something not intended to be known
(obsolete) Number.
(obsolete) Account; estimation; regard; heed.
(obsolete) Speech; language.
(obsolete) A speech; a statement; talk; conversation; discourse.
(legal, obsolete) A count; declaration.
(rare, or, archaic) Numbering; enumeration; reckoning; account; count.
* (John Dryden)
(rare, or, archaic) A number of things considered as an aggregate; sum.
(rare, or, archaic) A report of any matter; a relation; a version.
An account of an asserted fact or circumstance; a rumour; a report, especially an idle or malicious story; a piece of gossip or slander; a lie.
* , chapter=7
, title= A rehearsal of what has occurred; narrative; discourse; statement; history; story.
A number told or counted off; a reckoning by count; an enumeration.
* Hooker
* Milton
* Carew
* 1843 (Thomas Carlyle), '', book 2, ch. 5, ''Twelfth Century
(slang) The fraudulent opportunity presented by a confidence man to the mark (sense 3.3) of a confidence game.
(dialectal, or, obsolete) To speak; discourse; tell tales.
(dialectal, chiefly, Scotland) To reckon; consider (someone) to have something.
Telltale is a derived term of tale.
As nouns the difference between telltale and tale
is that telltale is one who divulges private information with intent to hurt others while tale is (obsolete) number or tale can be (tael).As a adjective telltale
is revealing something not intended to be known.As a verb tale is
(dialectal|or|obsolete) to speak; discourse; tell tales.telltale
English
Noun
(en noun)- The telltale was the lipstick on his shirt collar.
Synonyms
* (one who divulges private information) blabbermouth, gossip, rumormonger, talebearerAdjective
(en adjective)- His eye was blinking, a telltale signal that he was lying.
- He blushed when he approached, a telltale sign that he was happy to see him.
Derived terms
* telltale compasstale
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl), from (etyl) . Related to tell, talk.Noun
(en noun)- Both number twice a day the milky dams; And once she takes the tale of all the lambs.
The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=“A very welcome, kind, useful present, that means to the parish. By the way, Hopkins, let this go no further. We don't want the tale running round that a rich person has arrived. Churchill, my dear fellow, we have such greedy sharks, and wolves in lamb's clothing. […]”}}
- the ignorant, who measure by tale , and not by weight
- And every shepherd tells his tale , / Under the hawthorn in the dale.
- In packing, they keep a just tale of the number.
- They proceeded with some rigour, these Custodiars; took written inventories, clapt-on seals, exacted everywhere strict tale and measure