4 ms·

“Trust but verify” litteraly meant “Don’t trust” (as in “don’t trust the Russians” in context). Was it the nuance you intended ?

• yawaramin 7y ago
  That's not what it meant. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust,_but_verify https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust,_but_verify
  • hrktb 7y ago
    does it ? > Reagan used the phrase to emphasize "the extensive verification procedures that would enable both sides to monitor compliance with the treaty"
    • yawaramin 7y ago
      But you have to look at why he used that particular phrasing–a clever bit of wordplay to quickly get the idea across to Russians in familiar terms. It's a Russian figure of speech in the first place.
      • hrktb 7y ago
        “Wordplay” is too generous IMO. The original russian proverb is also double speak, as we would say now. It’s obvious when applied to trivial situations: “I trust my wife, but I take the time to verify her phone every night and check the private eye report of her day” We wouldn’t call that “trust”, pretty much the opposite