pretty all true

I would say it's a form of " pretty-well all true" but a better phrase grammatically would be MOSTLY or MAINLY true

Here is the quote in which "pretty all true" is used:


How would you explain the meaning of "pretty all true" in the above context? Does it mean "absolutely true"? Or it still suggests Olivia is not quite sure when questioned by her teacher who ask a series of questions to make sure that it is true.

Pretty much, all true... The reproduction of reality... A fair approximation... It is just an expression; and I can't say where it comes from... I have heard pretty much, and often... It would be written correctly with a semi-colon between pretty; and, all true..

This is nonsense; disregard Fido, who is (a) mentally unstable (b) a mischievous troll.

"Pretty all" seems to be an informal US regional variation of "pretty well" - meaning "mostly".

Pretty all? Southern expression?

The expression, "Pretty much" is quite common in the Midwest.

I agree punkey.

I've lived in a lot of places in the U.S., including the South, and never heard "pretty all"

I've heard "pretty much" all over.

The way I get the exchange, the fact the Olivia is speaking with a teacher, is that she's a child.

Just like a kid will mix up other phrases, I think she said "pretty all true" when she really meant "pretty much all true"

It adds, IMHO a touch of humor to the exchange.

What chai said . Olivia's trying not to commit herself to saying that it's all completely true so she comes up with this slightly humourous expression based on her previous answer. That's how I read it anyway.

"Pretty true" means "mostly true" and is an expression a child would use when being interrogated by an adult. The adult comes back with "All true?" and the child continues to fudge the answer with "pretty all true". This is not a normal English saying, just an attempt by the author to write what a child might say.

"Pretty All True" is a phrase from a book by Ian Falconer called Olivia The Pig. (Which, characteristically, Fansy failed to mention.) It has been borrowed by bloggers and songwriters, particularly in the US, which is why I said it was local to that country. I think it is rather likely that Falconer invented it. It is not standard English. It has become a "meme" like e.g. "All your bases are belong to us". I think it is meant to be a childish mix of "pretty much true" (nearly true, that is, partly false) and "all true".

Base . . . all your base are belong to us . . .

Sheesh . . .

yeah, what a maroon, huh?

he probably found that on the interweb.

I keep typing that! Sorry. It's kinda lame, I know.

Your doing it wrong.

(The Interwebs are weird, very weird.)