Washington and the cherry tree

Cultural  

1. The subject of a fanciful story by an early biographer of George Washington, Mason Weems; the source of the saying “I cannot tell a lie.” According to Weems, the young Washington received a new hatchet and used it to chop down his father's prized cherry tree. His father demanded to know how the tree had fallen. George was tempted to deny his misdeed, but then, “looking at his father with the sweet face of youth brightened with the inexpressible charm of all-conquering truth, he bravely cried out, ‘I cannot tell a lie. I did cut it with my hatchet.’”

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Example Sentences

Even as a kid, I never fell for that bit about George Washington and the cherry tree.

From Washington Post • Feb. 1, 2016

Throughout the gallery stand nearly life-size wooden cutouts of Washington and his horse, Washington and the cherry tree, Washington crossing the Delaware.

From Time Magazine Archive

What if the generation after next grew up without ever hearing about John Smith and Pocahontas or even George Washington and the cherry tree?

From Time Magazine Archive

Unauthenticated is his pious anecdote of young George Washington and the cherry tree.

From Time Magazine Archive

The tale of "George Washington and the cherry tree" would never have found favor in Athens.

From A Day in Old Athens; a Picture of Athenian Life by Davis, William Stearns