Catch Phrases That May Tip You Off To A Lie

Apart from the obvious signs, non-verbal gestures and other cues can also help to determine whether someone is telling the truth or not. Forbes outlines 11 ways to potentially sniff out a liar, including a section on catch phrases to watch out for.

Photo by cursedthing.

Apart from avoiding eye contact, breaking out in a sweat, and other possible physiological triggers, Forbes says that liars may be more likely to ask you to repeat your questions than those making honest claims. Also, liars may preface their pronouncements with “to tell you the truth” and “to be perfectly honest” more so than their truth-telling counterparts. Finally, liars also tend to use third-person pronouns like “we”and “they” as a way to “psychologically distance themselves from a lie”.

You should also take note of consistently evasive answers to direct questions. According to the article, many liars haven’t thought through their stories and so prefer to keep their answers short (think one-word responses) and non-specific.

Of course, not everyone using the above phrases is being dishonest and vice versa, so you should use this advice as a possible warning sign and not as a blanket rule, and judge according to the person and situation in question. Check out the full post for the other ways to potentially catch a liar in the act.

11 Ways to Sniff Out a Liar [Forbes]


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

Here are the cheapest plans available for Australia’s most popular NBN speed tier.

At Lifehacker, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

Comments


2 responses to “Catch Phrases That May Tip You Off To A Lie”

Leave a Reply