Tell is not saying — it is placing something in someone's hands

Where the picture shows up in tell

1. 1

   placing directions in a hand

   Can you tell me where the elevator is?

   kæn juː tel miː wer ðə ˈeləveɪtər ɪz

   Could you point me to the lift?

   Stopped in the corridor, a staff member draws the way in the air and sets it in your hand.

   Tell is followed straight away by the receiver: tell me, tell him.

2. 2

   placing an instruction in a hand

   The doctor told me to rest for a week.

   ðə ˈdɑːktər toʊld miː tuː rest fɔːr ə wiːk

   The doctor said to take a week off.

   In the consulting room, a slip reading rest one week is laid in the patient's palm.

   Tell + person + to verb is the shape for placing an order.

3. 3

   unspooling what happened

   Tell me what happened last night.

   tel miː wʌt ˈhæpənd læst naɪt

   Talk me through last night.

   Across the desk, last night is drawn out like thread and piled up in front of the listener.

4. 4

   placing two things in separate hands

   I cannot tell these two keys apart.

   aɪ ˈkænɑːt tel ðiːz tuː kiːz əˈpɑːrt

   These two keys look identical to me.

   Two keys that look the same refuse to go into a left hand and a right hand.

   Tell A and B apart is setting each into a different hand.

5. 5

   a face placing it in your hand

   You can tell he has not slept.

   juː kæn tel hiː hæz nɑːt slept

   One look and you know he has not slept.

   Nobody says a word; swollen eyes and dropped shoulders set the fact in your hand.

   You can tell is the surface, not the person, doing the placing.