> Please don't hate me for doing this, but don't you think that the phrase, instead of meaning "if I SAID TO you all of them...," makes more sense as its homonym, meaning, "if I counted all of them..." or "if we included all of them...." (referring to "all tolled" vs. "all told").
>
> Mou"Sorry but you hit on a peeve that's too big to be considered a pet"sie

Hmm. "Tolled" versus "told". All I can say is that "toll" doesn't really mean to "count", although phrases like "the hurricane took a toll in lives" might suggest a similar meaning. And the simple past tense form "tolled" is only used for the second meaning of "toll", which is "to ring a bell".

On the other hand, "told" comes from "tell", which has a long history of meaning "to count or enumerate". That meaning has fallen into disuse, but it's still in the dictionary. In fact, it's given the first spot in my Webster's New World Dictionary (time for another Sam Stoddard dictionary critique). "All told" means, originally and properly, "all counted / enumerated", so I have to stick with my original wording.

Sorry for having to pop open a can of etymological butt-kicking on you there, but you know, if I didn't do it, someone else would have. ;-)

Iss "the Lone Haranguer" achar