No word of a lie

[Ju]

"My dad loves my mom very much. There is no word of a lie."

Is the above sentence grammatical? I am trying to say it is an absolute truth that my dad loves my mum very much.

Thanks.

 

[emsr2d2]

"No word of a lie" is commonly used in BrE but it's not preceded by "There is". Usually it's not preceded by anything. It's used to emphasise the fact that you're not lying when the preceding statement might be met with some surprise or suspicion.

I've run seven marathons this month. No word of a lie!
My dad's having an affair! No word of a lie!

I don't find its use natural with your suggested sentence in post 1 though. Saying your dad loves your mum very much is a simple statement of fact. No one would assume you were lying so there is no reason to emphasise the fact that you are telling the truth.

 

[jutfrank]

It is sometimes preceded by and that's.

My dad loves my mom very much, and that's no word of a lie.

I agree that this context makes for a rather unlikely use of the phrase.

 

[Tdol]

You could say that this is the plain/honest truth instead.

 

[GoesStation]

You could say that this is the plain/honest truth instead.

That would work much better in American English. We don't use the expression no word of a lie and would have trouble understanding it.

 

[Phaedrus]

We don't use the expression no word of a lie and would have trouble understanding it.

We do have one pretty old-fashioned expression that is much like it: No fooling.

The "g" is often dropped on the rare occasions it's used: No foolin'.

It's sometimes even used as a question: No foolin'?

 

[GoesStation]

No kidding, followed by either a question mark or an exclamation point, is still very common where I live.