Lying but not really

Question

I'm new to this but I have a question, when someone only tells you part of the truth for example a conversation:

Me: hey I bought a new car

Saying I bought a new car, but hiding the fact that its second hand. I remember someone telling me this and that the media does it. Is this shadowing or something?

Welcome to ELU. Please take a site tour to know how to ask good questions here. Also, please check if your question is more suitable for the English Language Learners SE site. — alwayslearning, Sep 26 '16 at 17:24
Not an exact match but also consider white lie: a harmless or trivial lie, especially one told to avoid hurting someone's feelings. — Mr_Thyroid, Sep 26 '16 at 20:11
Also see Is there a word for when a statement is technically true but misleading?, What's a word for a statement that's not quite factual?, What do you call it when people mix truth and lies?, and What's the difference between a half-truth and a half-falsehood? — choster, Sep 27 '16 at 01:57

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 26 '16 at 17:33

You can describe this as telling half-truths:

A deceptive statement, especially one that is only partly true, is incomplete, misrepresents reality by telling part of the truth, or alters the time sequence of truths.

Or, if you want to be more general, you can call these statements deception.

score -1 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 26 '16 at 19:22

I think your example is flawed: if you say "I bought a new car", then it's a lie, plain and simple. However, if you point to it and say "That's my new car", it's not a lie at all.

This is because 'new' can mean 'newly built' or 'newly acquired'. So if you say "I bought a new car", then 'new' has to mean 'newly built', because 'newly acquired' is redundant -- you just bought it, after all. But "That's my new car" can legitimately mean "That's the car that I just bought." In this case, you might be asked, "What, new new?"

We get the question. I don't think this helps the asker in any way — Andrey, Sep 26 '16 at 19:28

Lying but not really

2 Answers2