Shopping & Style4 mins ago
The difference between a lie and an untruth
Just came across this article whereby Stephen Byers has been acquitted of lying but told to apologise for telling an 'untruth'. What's the difference?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4665498.stm
Answers
No best answer has yet been selected by Trojanfarce. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.I' m wondering if i stood up in court and told some 'untruths' i would get away with it?
I think we were told some untruths about WMD aswell.
I also think the Labour manifesto had some untruths in it aswell especially about top up fees.
I'm going to try this one on my missus.
"I didnt lie to you darling about where i was - i just told an untruth and thats alright!"
Stephen Byers is a snidey, two faced, arrogant , smug lying b*****d!
And thats the truth!
It's a matter of semantics - a 'lie' is telling something that you know to be untrue, an untuth is something that you believe to be true, but is not true.
For example, if you find someone who believevs that the earth is flat, they will tell you that the earth is flat. That is not a lie, because they believe what they say to be true, but it is an untruth, because what they are saying is not true. Hope that's clear - it is a very fine distinction, but an important one - especially if you are a politician!
You are defining a misapprehension or a misperception, and not a lie or untrurh.
Gary told the truth about Byers when he calls him a smug lying barsteward - and that's not a misperception!!
Byers is a politician and politicians of all parties lie (or are untruthful!) habitually, and I cannot for the life of me see why people vote for them. Surely people are not gullible or daft enough to believe them!!
In politicians terms and not in the dictionary sense i would say an untruth is how AH describes it.
I'm playing the devils advocate here - i dont agree with it - a lie, is a lie, is a lie.
Cabinet ministers are the tip of an invisible iceberg and are 'fed' information that they should, but dont, verify.
I have no respect for Byers and on previous performances i stick by what i said about him and this incident sums him up -but i can also slightly see where AH is coming from.
Related Questions
Sorry, we can't find any related questions. Try using the search bar at the top of the page to search for some keywords, or choose a topic and submit your own question.