SUSTAINABLE EXPRESSION “TO BE HONEST” AS A METATEXT OPERATOR

Abstract

The paper discusses the sustainable expression “to be honest” in terms of its metatext function. The relevance of the study is associated with the need to identify all the means belonging to the category of metatext determinants that are important for understanding texts by a foreign audience. Particular attention is paid to the types of contexts characteristic of the analyzed expression. It is established that the most typical context is the context with the negation. In addition, the expression “to be honest” is characterized by contexts with evaluative vocabulary calling quantitative or qualitative assessment, as well as contexts with verbs of thought. The article raises the question of the function of the operator “to be honest” in these contexts. The author concludes that with the use of the metatext operator “to be honest”, the speaker is trying to soften or justify the information he reports.