Not Gonna Lie

At a coffee shop yesterday, there were a young man and woman sitting together, planning an event. A couple of times, the young woman started something she said with the words, "I'm not gonna lie..." 

I know that's a common phrase these days, occurring often enough that it has an abbreviation in text-speak and on social media: NGL. I hadn't thought about it before that moment, but those are words I would never use in a spoken or written sentence.

I realize they're just filler, an updated version of "honestly," but I would never use them. Come to think of it, I also never use the word "honestly" in that way. 

I do use "really" — probably way too much. And "actually." But those are not statements making a claim about the internal truth of what I'm saying: they're attempts to attest to the external veracity of an aspect of something I'm saying. 

According to a 2024 post on the University of Pennsylvania's Language Log, "not gonna lie" began to enjoy its rise in usage after 2000, with a big ramp-up after 2010. 

That big increase begins to look small, however, when compared to the much more common phrases/words "honestly" and "to tell the truth":



It's notable that all three usages have experienced significant increases in this era when overt lying by public officials is the hallmark of our age.