Gullible Yvette

Monday, May 12, 2008, 5/12/2008 09:29:00 PM

Lies

The various types of lies include the following:

Bold-faced lie: A bold-faced (or barefaced) lie is a lie that is told when it is obvious to all concerned that it is a lie. For example, a child who has chocolate all over his face and denies that he has not eaten the last piece of chocolate cake, is a bold-faced liar. The adjective "bold-faced" indicates that no attempt has been made to hide the fact that it is a lie.

Lying by omission: Lying by omission is when an important fact is omitted, deliberately leaving another person with a misconception. This includes failures to correct pre-existing misconceptions. One may by careful speaking contrive to give correct but only partial answers to questions, thus never actually lying.

Lie-to-children: A lie-to-children is an expression, or more specifically a euphemism, that describes a lie told to make an adult subject, such as sex, acceptable to children. The most common example is "The stork brought you." or hiding honesty and truth e.g. I will tell you when you are a little bit older.

White lie: A white lie would cause no discord if it were uncovered and offers some benefit to the liar or the hearer, or both. White lies are often used to avoid offense, such as telling someone that you think that their new outfit looks good when you actually do not think that it does. In this case, the lie is told to avoid the harmful implications and realistic implications of the truth. As a concept, it is largely defined by local custom and cannot be clearly separated from regular lies with any authority. As such the term may have differing meanings in different cultures. Lies which are harmless but told for no reason are generally not called white lies.

Noble lie: A lie that would normally cause discord if it were uncovered, but that offers some benefit to the liar and perhaps assist in an orderly society and thus potentially gives some benefit to others also. It is often told to maintain law, order and safety. A noble lie usually has the effect of helping an elite maintain power.

Emergency lie: Emergency lie is a different kind of white lie, which is employed when the truth may not be told because, for example, harm to a third party would come of it. An example of such an emergency lie would be a neighbour lying to an enraged husband about the whereabouts of his unfaithful wife, because said husband might reasonably be expected to inflict physical violence should he encounter his wife in person.
Perjury: Perjury is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in a court of law or in any of various sworn statements in writing. Perjury is a crime because the witness has sworn to tell the truth and, for the credibility of the court, witness testimony must be relied on as being truthful.

Bluffing: Bluffing is an act of deception that is not usually seen as immoral because it takes place in the context of a game where this kind of deception is consented to in advance by the players. For instance, a gambler who deceives other players into thinking he has different cards than he really does, or an athlete who indicates he will move left and then actually dodges right, are not considered to be lying. In these situations, deception is accepted as a tactic and even expected.

Misleading: Misleading is when a person tells a statement that isn't an outright lie, but still has the purpose of making someone believe in an untruth.

Dissembling: "Dissemble" is a polite term for lying, though some might consider it to refer to being merely misleading. It is most commonly considered to be an euphemism for lying.

Exaggeration: Exaggeration is when the most fundamental aspect(s) of a statement is true, but the degree to which it is true is not correct.

Jocose lies: Jocose lies are lies which are meant in jest and are usually understood as such by all present parties. Sarcasm can be one example of this. A more elaborate example can be seen in storytelling traditions which are present in some places, where the humour comes from the storyteller's insistence that he or she is telling the absolute truth despite all evidence to the contrary (ie. tall tale). There is debate about whether these are "real lies", with different philosophers holding different views (see below).

Bragging: Bragging is a kind of lie in which a person tells something about himself or anything, which is not true, in an effort to build up a reputation, such as saying "I own a billion dollar car and house," in which they actually don't.