Take liberties
Today’s English expression is to take liberties. This is an expression that’s extremely specific: you’ll rarely use it, but it’s a good one to know. The expression is to “take liberties with the truth,” and what it means is this: you change the truth (a little) so that you can tell a good story.
You change the truth—you make small adjustments—so that your story is a little better. When a storyteller takes liberties with the truth, the storyteller is generally faithful to the essence of the story, but changes some details to make the story better.
Here’s a great example. Barack Obama’s step-grandfather died while hanging drapes, according to biographer and Washington Post reporter David Maraniss. But this might come as a surprise to you if you’ve read Barack Obama’s own memoir, “Dreams From My Father.” In that book, the former president says that this same step-grandfather died fighting Dutch troops in Indonesia. He did fight Dutch troops in Indonesia, but he died hanging drapes. Obama took liberties with his true family history to make the story better.
If you ever have to give a speech at a wedding, you have my permission to take some liberties with the truth. This is a time to say only good things about the couple getting married! Maybe you know about that time they had a trial separation, or the huge fight about the ex-boyfriend, or when one of them was caught—it doesn’t matter. Leave that out of your speech at their wedding! You have my permission to take some liberties with the truth. This is a time to tell a good story; you can change the details, or selectively leave some details out, to make the story better.
And so it is with movies that are “based on a true story.” From what I’ve read, the new Netflix series about Jeffrey Dahmer stays faithful to the truth. The producers had access to a lot of real film, a lot of evidence, books, police reports, victim statements, and more. But even so, they took some liberties to make the story better. I told you about a few of them earlier, but here’s one example.
Glenda Cleveland was a neighbor who alerted police and tried to call attention to Dahmer’s misbehavior. In the series, she lives next door and smells bodies decomposing and she hears screaming from the apartment. The real-life Glenda Cleveland did try, courageously, to stop Dahmer. But she lived in a different building.
The producers of “Monster” made Glenda Cleveland a more interesting character by taking some liberties with the truth here. They could have stayed a little closer to the truth by introducing other characters who lived on the same floor, and reducing the role of Glenda Cleveland’s character. But that might have confused viewers—and it wouldn’t have been as good a story. So the producers took some liberties with the truth—the changed the truth to make the story better, but they were still faithful to the essence of the story.
JR’s song of the week
Now it’s time for JR’s song of the week. It’s called “Alone, Part II” by the British-Norwegian DJ Alan Walker and the American signer Ava Max. Here’s the line I like the best: “All the cool kids did their own thing, I was on the outside looking in.” The video was shot in Vietnam.
So thanks for that song this week, JR. “Alone, Part II” by Alan Walker and Ava Max.
See you next time!
And that brings us to the end of this Plain English lesson, number 523. Next time, we’ll talk about the criticism of the Dahmer series and the perils of true crime—don’t worry, I’ll go light on the details in the next lesson.
Remember you can get the full lesson at PlainEnglish.com/523. That includes our full exercises page, with fill-in-the-blank exercises, a voice recorder to help with your pronunciation, a lesson quiz, and more. PlainEnglish.com/523, and if you’re a Plain English Plus+ member, you get access to the special lesson exercises.
That’s all for today—see you Monday.
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