Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

i kid you not

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.97 in modern English

Syllables
i kid y-ou not
IPA
18
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars

Meaning

phrase

Used to insist that one is telling the truth.

Colloquial

Example Sentences

Etymology

Earliest known use is from November 3, 1943 on The Centenary Conglomerate. A print reference of the phrase appeared in 1948 in the International Stereotypers' and Electrotypers' Union Journal, Volume 43: Boy!, Oh Boy! I said I asked for a headache when I volunteered for this job, and I kid you not when I repeat it. It next appeared as a phrase spoken by Lieutenant Commander Philip Francis Queeg in Herman Wouk's 1951 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "The Caine Mutiny": That's the Navy for you. Pass the buck and get a receipt. Act at discretion, hey? Well that's exactly what I'm going to do, and I kid you not. It was later popularized by Jack Paar, host of The Tonight Show from 1957 to 1962, who used this as his signature phrase. It humorously combines the colloquial verb kid with the archaic negation through not without do-support. Compare believe you me.

Usage

Inflected Forms

I shit you not (alternative, vulgar) I fuck you not (alternative, vulgar)

Questions

What does i kid you not mean?
Used to insist that one is telling the truth.
Where does i kid you not come from?
Earliest known use is from November 3, 1943 on The Centenary Conglomerate. A print reference of the phrase appeared in 1948 in the International Stereotypers' and Electrotypers' Union Journal, Volume 43: Boy!, Oh Boy! I said I asked for a headache when I volunteered for this job, and I kid you not when I repeat it. It next appeared as a phrase spoken by Lieutenant Commander Philip Francis Queeg in Herman Wouk's 1951 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "The Caine Mutiny": That's the Navy for you. Pass the buck and get a receipt. Act at discretion, hey? Well that's exactly what I'm going to do, and I kid you not. It was later popularized by Jack Paar, host of The Tonight Show from 1957 to 1962, who used this as his signature phrase. It humorously combines the colloquial verb kid with the archaic negation through not without do-support. Compare believe you me.

How to pronounce i kid you not

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “i kid you not”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “i kid you not”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “i kid you not” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.