'tread on the truth'
does this quote sound insulting i.e. trample over the truth'
or on the contrary, does it mean to 'walk' on the path of truth?

Question

anonymous · Answer

it basically is saying Telll the truth i remember my mother saying it when I was a kid.

anonymous · Answer

Could go either way in my book. Having the truth as a support or yes trample it.

anonymous · Answer

How does the entire sentence run?  Context is always helpful.

anonymous · Answer

But I would think that to tread *on* the truth would not be the same thing as to tread, say, the path of truth or something of that nature.  To "tread on the truth" sounds a lot like to walk all over it, rather than to walk its path.  (If there is such a path, of course.  Difficult sometimes to know what that might be, things seldom being so black and white.)

jagatuba · Answer

I agree Redwood Girl. Context is everything and much could be learned by knowing the words and thoughts that surround this phrase.