"if you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "This phrase was coined by economist Ronald Coase. A closely related sentence had been published in Alfred Sauvy's book L'Opinion publique (The public opinion, éd. Presses universitaires de France, coll. « Que sais-je ? », 1961, p. 100):\nThe figures are innocent people who, under solicitation, under torture, very quickly confess what is asked of them, even if it means retracting later. (Les chiffres sont des innocents qui, sous la sollicitation, sous la torture, avouent très vite ce qu'on leur demande, quitte à se rétracter plus tard.)",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "proverb"
      },
      "expansion": "if you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English proverbs",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Statistics can be manipulated to support any conclusion."
      ],
      "id": "en-if_you_torture_the_data_long_enough,_it_will_confess_to_anything-en-proverb-dp2~bdmO",
      "links": [
        [
          "Statistics",
          "statistics"
        ],
        [
          "manipulate",
          "manipulate"
        ],
        [
          "conclusion",
          "conclusion"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "if you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "This phrase was coined by economist Ronald Coase. A closely related sentence had been published in Alfred Sauvy's book L'Opinion publique (The public opinion, éd. Presses universitaires de France, coll. « Que sais-je ? », 1961, p. 100):\nThe figures are innocent people who, under solicitation, under torture, very quickly confess what is asked of them, even if it means retracting later. (Les chiffres sont des innocents qui, sous la sollicitation, sous la torture, avouent très vite ce qu'on leur demande, quitte à se rétracter plus tard.)",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "proverb"
      },
      "expansion": "if you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English proverbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Statistics can be manipulated to support any conclusion."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Statistics",
          "statistics"
        ],
        [
          "manipulate",
          "manipulate"
        ],
        [
          "conclusion",
          "conclusion"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "if you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything"
}