It's testimony NOT testament

[Funions]

isn't it, though?

• A testament is a will or if you will: a covenant/promise

• A testimony is proof/evidence

So all those who say e.g. "the response of the emergency services was a testament to their training, compassion blah blah blah"

...should be saying "the response of the emergency services was a testimony to their training...."

Sorry about the poe-faced example, but it's often used in this context or of people being brave - which makes you feel even more of a prick for coming over all pedantic.

I was pulled up by a lecturer aged 19 on this and HAVE NEVER FORGOTTEN and inwardly cringe when I hear this on practically every news bulletin ever. And I need to relax.

Isn't it po-faced? (I'm not sure, just asking!) But you're right about the testimony/testament thing, I think :)

It is indeed po faced... How for you, op, given the topic.

The free dictionary says testament is ' something that serves as tangible proof or evidence' and testimony 'evidence in support of a fact or an assertion' so they both sound pretty similar to me!

That free dictionary is wrong. I googled before I posted and shook my little fist at that. Don't believe everything you read on the internet.

I didn't know about po-faced. Not at all, I see this area as educational all-round . Nobody's perfect, but with help we can all get there...

The on-line oxford dictionary also gives those definitions

The etymology (from witness) certainly supports testament to mean proof/evidence.

Merriam-Webster also includes this definition for testament.

Aren't testicles the etymological root for both?

Testament is proof or evidence that something exists or is true.

It also means the legal instructions about disposal of property on death, but this is secondary to the above meaning: the "testament" in this case is a special case of proof or evidence -- formal proof/evidence of a person's stated wishes re disposal of property.

The primary meaning of testimony is something that one says while formally promising to tell the truth, i.e. as in a court of law. It does also have "proof or evidence that something exists or is true" as a secondary meaning.

So either word can be used in the OP's example of "the response of the emergency services was a testament/testimony to their training, compassion ". But contra the OP testament is in fact slightly better, not worse than testimony, because it lacks testimony's primary meaning of "something said while under a formal promise of truth-telling."

I think "testament to" is ok but not "a testament to". It's the addition of the a which makes it wrong IMO.

Yes, testicles are the root for both words -- I think the original idea is that a person swore on his testicles that he was telling the truth (perhaps with the idea that if he should be found to be lying he might have his testicles lopped off?)

It is really very funny that testicles are the touchstone of truth-telling and of lying -- "talking bollocks."

I'm going to swear on my vagina if I have to give evidence. Much more reliable.

Which means that protest, Protestant, and attest all have this testicle connection.

I do love etymology.

Surely it's 'test' as in 'head' - from the French 'tête'?