To Give or Not To Give
By Mona Lease 

Hi, all!! I've been listening to people talk - it amazes me!! There are more words in our spoken language to NOT tell the truth. Lie, embellish, mis-speak (this can be a real accident having to do with saying the wrong word like "prostate from the heat"  when it should be "prostrate from the heat"), noble lie, polite lie, etc. 

Credence is defined as - "acceptance or belief, especially with regard to the truth of the evidence of others - I can not give credence to his account."

A lie is a false statement to a person or group from another person or group who knows it's not the truth. A Bare (Bald) Faced Lie is one that is obviously a lie to the hearer. A Big Lie is one that attempts to trick the victim into believing something major will likely be contradicted by some information the victim already possesses. To Bluff is to pretend to have a capability or intention one does not actually possess. To BS is to make someone believe the teller knows far more about a subject than he really does by feigning total certainty and making predictions based solely on probability.An Emergency Lie is a strategic lie told when it is supposed that the truth would harm someone. An Exaggeration (or hyperbole) is used when the most fundamental aspects of a statement are true - to a certain degree. I find this one most often used to "spice up" a story. A Fabrication is a lie told when someone submits a statement as truth, without knowing for sure if it is. A Half Truth is a deceptive statement that has a little truth to it. These usually have a double meaning designed to deceive, evade, blame, or misrepresent the truth. An Honest Lie is a verbal statement that inaccurately describes history, background, and present situations.  Perjury is the act of lying or making false statements that can be verified as untrue, in a court of law. White Lies are minor lies which could be considered harmless and may be beneficial in the long run. 

I counted 15 "categories" of lies in the previous text - 15!!! 

Truth is defined as  - "sincerity of action, character, and utterance...the property of being in accord with fact/or reality." This is interesting to me on so many levels. To start - I found no "examples" or "colors" of truth...it  just is - Truth. Next - when we choose to "ignore" these lies - "who's it hurting?" - "I don't want to start trouble" - "that's just the way he is" - are we really doing a great disservice to the speaker by not "calling the lie?" Someday someone will "call the lie" - maybe about the time the "big promotion" arrives - but the speaker's reputation preceded him. By the "excuses" I've mentioned above (I've heard these for myself) - most people know the "color wheel" of the lie. And, finally - probably most importantly - how do we expect the kiddies to learn math or anything other subject when they're busy spinning the Lie Color Wheel to determine the best lie/color for the current situation in which they find themselves? 

From "answers.google.com" - "The average 1 year old child hears the word "no" more than 400 times a day." How many lies do you suppose they hear as they grow? 

Remember the kiddies and our service people. Be good to the furry and feathered ones out there. Be safe and healthy. See ya next time. Ever Toodles!! MONA