Lies
The word lie, meaning to speak
falsely or tell an untruth, has been part of the English language since the
1100s. Its roots are buried deep in Germanic languages. Lie’s linguistic cousins
show up in Norse (ljuga), Danish, (lyve), Gothic, (liugan), Frisian, (liaga),
& German (lugen).
It shouldn’t surprise us that we have an impressive number of synonyms,
near-synonyms & idioms available to substitute for that terribly direct
& offensive three-letter word, lie.
Instead of lying, businesslike folk might reframe, mislead, evade, misspeak,
or misstate, while artsy types might buff, burnish, embroider, or
fictionalize.
We can also whitewash, inflate, dissemble, spin, or stonewall, and those of
us who lie regularly can lay claim to any number of afflictions: necessary
disingenuity, factual flexibility, serial exaggeration, or
the ever-popular; fictitious disorder syndrome.
Ah, but all lies are not equal. For instance, to lie is to make
a deliberately false statement, to
prevaricate
is to quibble or confuse in order to
avoid the truth, to fabricate is to invent a false story, to equivocate is to deliberately use ambiguity to mislead, & to fib is
to tell a falsehood about something
unimportant.
Good readers if you have any thoughts on all this dishonesty, I’d love
to read them in the comments section.
Big thanks to this week’s sources: Ralph Keyes’ Euphemania, the 1959
Webster’s New World Dictionary of the
American Language, Wordnik,
Etymonline, & the OED.
I love all those weasley words like "Misspeak" and "Reframe". I think they're hilarious. All of these words are just, as you say, simple lies.
ReplyDeleteWeasley words -- a fine category for a post, eh?
ReplyDeleteFactual flexibility. Wow, what a concept. Anne is right, weasley words indeed!
ReplyDeleteHey Christine - I loved the label factual flexibility. I had a pal years ago who claimed his loving wife's truths were just not quite the same as his. I wish I'd known some of these terms at the time.
ReplyDeleteWith the upcoming campaigns for the Presidency, we'll discover many who are adept at factual flexibility, "necessary" disingenuity, evasion, reframing, and all the rest. Sigh.
ReplyDelete