the lady doth protest too much

• the lady doth protest too much, methinks
• methinks the lady doth protest too much
• methinks thou dost protest too much

An allusion to Shakespeare's Hamlet,^[1] where the line is spoken by Queen Gertrude, Hamlet's mother. In the play, "protest" is used to mean "insist that what one is saying is true" (in this case, the Player Queen's protestations of love), not "insist that what another is saying is false."

the lady doth protest too much

1. It is suspected that, because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite of what they're saying must be true.
   • 1897, Samuel Butler, The Authoress of the Odyssey:

     In all Penelope's devotion to her husband there is an ever present sense that the lady doth protest too much.

• protest too much

• a hit dog will holler
• the lady doth protest too much on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Excusatio non petita, accusatio manifesta on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• the lady doth protest too much on Wikipedia.Wikipedia