whats a word for: not lying but also not telling the whole truth?
anything?
anything?
Deceiving. Misdirecting. Truthiness?
mislead
white lie?
ambiguous?
dunno...
white lie?
ambiguous?
dunno...
It's still lying. It's like you are either pregnant or not pregnant. You can't be a little bit pregant. They don't say "the best lie is almost all truth" for nothing you know.
However, I understand the context you are looking for and cannot think of a single word for it. Mislead (as suggested by maffiaw) seems the closest.
However, I understand the context you are looking for and cannot think of a single word for it. Mislead (as suggested by maffiaw) seems the closest.
being economical with the truth
A statement like that (not outright lying but also withholding presumably important and relevent information) could be described as being misinformative.
How you'd describe it would depend on exactly what was said, and what was not said. Spin-doctoring is all about this. Watch any politician whose been asked a question that he'd rather not answer. He'll still give an answer, but he'll probably generalise it, or answer on a close-related but subtly different topic. He'll deflect the inquirer from what they want to know by supplying information that seems to answer the question. It's a form of deception and manipulation, and a successful politician is probably very good at it (or is advised by people who are).
In a legal context, a judge might catch you out on "lying by omission". Example of lying by omission: When Mila Kunis auditioned for her role in "That 70's Show", all the actors were required to be 18 or older. They asked her "Are you 18?", she answered "I'll be 18 on my birthday". What she didn't say was which birthday (she was 14 at the time...) and got the part.
If you've got a specific phrase or sentence you want to describe, post it and I'll try and figure out the best way of describing it.
How you'd describe it would depend on exactly what was said, and what was not said. Spin-doctoring is all about this. Watch any politician whose been asked a question that he'd rather not answer. He'll still give an answer, but he'll probably generalise it, or answer on a close-related but subtly different topic. He'll deflect the inquirer from what they want to know by supplying information that seems to answer the question. It's a form of deception and manipulation, and a successful politician is probably very good at it (or is advised by people who are).
In a legal context, a judge might catch you out on "lying by omission". Example of lying by omission: When Mila Kunis auditioned for her role in "That 70's Show", all the actors were required to be 18 or older. They asked her "Are you 18?", she answered "I'll be 18 on my birthday". What she didn't say was which birthday (she was 14 at the time...) and got the part.
If you've got a specific phrase or sentence you want to describe, post it and I'll try and figure out the best way of describing it.
half-truth. Not the whole story...
Just remembered a quote from Season 1 of "The X-File". (forgive me if I get this wrong...)
Scully: You just lied to them!
Mulder: No, I willingly engaged in a campaign of misinformation.
In other words, yes, he lied, but he took the accusation, wrapped it up in a denial, and covered it all up with big, important sounding words, all of which meant "yes, I lied", but sounded much more like a "no, and here's why".
Scully: You just lied to them!
Mulder: No, I willingly engaged in a campaign of misinformation.
In other words, yes, he lied, but he took the accusation, wrapped it up in a denial, and covered it all up with big, important sounding words, all of which meant "yes, I lied", but sounded much more like a "no, and here's why".
Media
Xbone Stormsurgezz
Fibbing
Being a politician?
Internats?
main battle tank karthus medikopter 117 megamegapowershot gg
Historical Lisencing. Creative remembering.
Equivocation
Equivocating
Evasive
Equivocating
Evasive
Last edited by topal63 (2007-02-22 10:22:55)
obfuscation
fuzzy
Hoodwink
merkle, lol no its not, I just like the word
Try "prevarication" or "ingenuous" or "evasive".
Deceit
