Have you noticed that when Americans use the word truth, they often preface it with an adjective like perfectly or absolutely or definitely or very--as if what is true needs embellishment--as if what is true needs an exclamation point? This author was caught doing that yesterday and reminded by his wife that what is true just is. God bless her. In other words, it doesn't need embellishments.
I believe this reveals something about Americans: we consider truth relative--as if stubborn facts were subject to private interpretation. Like good, better, and best, to us, truth has degrees--verity has a hierarchy in America. We think some things are true, some truer, and some truest. So, what makes something that is true a superlative? Is a thing truer when we feel strongly about it or when it strokes our ego or when we know nothing about the facts but it concerns our friends? If truest is truly true, does what is mere "truth" verge on falsehood? And, will what is truest always be what is loudest or prettiest or most popular? Perhaps Winston Churchill, English statesman and historian depicted us well when he said, "You can always count on Americans to do the right thing (ie. tell the truth) - after they've tried everything else"?
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