White lies, polite lies [ Reading & Writing / Communication ]
… also be seen as a refusal to perform in the role(s) appointed by polite society. Diaries and journals such as those of Frances Burney or Hester Thrale illustrate occasions on which women used polite lies in conversation. These occasions might be … and thus led to a good deal of anxiety and even pre-emptive protestations of honesty in an act of self-defence. Frances Burney, for instance, claimed that ‘all that I relate in Journalizing is strictly, nay plainly Fact: I never, in …
Conversation | Falsehood | Lies | Politeness
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