Our culture has accepted two huge lies

@fmf said
Maybe in some idiomatic or colloquial or literary ways, which a dictionary also lists by obligation, but I cannot see how it can be applied to opinions one disagrees with except as a kind emotional indicator as to one's attitude to dissent.

The word ‘lie’ may be used to mean ‘untruth’.

Do you believe the above statement to be true or false?

@dj2becker said
What are you on about?

Your bizarre assertions about little children supposedly producing "lies" every time they get an answer on a maths quiz wrong.

@dj2becker said
The word ‘lie’ may be used to mean ‘untruth’.

Do you believe the above statement to be true or false?

It doesn't apply to the kind of thing we are discussing, except in a crass, tabloid, propaganda kind of way - Insisting on "synonyms" justifying what you claim, or lumpen selection of dictionary definitions, or making claims about the English language based on a thesaurus, or based on willfully ignoring what a dictionary does, it is all intellectual folly.

@dj2becker said
You are entitled to your subjective opinions.

Does your supposedly "objective" opinions about the way to use the English language, in your view, enable or entitle you to use long lists of all kinds of possible applications of words found in dictionaries in order to construct whatever language/vocabulary based argument you feel you need?

@dj2becker said
The word ‘lie’ may be used to mean ‘untruth’.

Sure it can be used in the way you suggest but, seriously, you think it can be used in ANY or ALL sentences regardless of what one is talking about? So if this "definition" is drawn from, and supports some, idiomatic or colloquial use [as a dictionaryis obligated to make accommodation for) , you think it can simply be used in sny sentence about anything in any situation? That is your stance as a native speaker of English?

@fmf said
Your bizarre assertions about little children supposedly producing "lies" every time they get an answer on a maths quiz wrong.

Assertions that you just conveniently made up?

@fmf said
Sure it can be used in the way you suggest but, seriously, you think it can be used in ANY or ALL sentences regardless of what one is talking about? So if this "definition" is drawn from, and supports some, idiomatic or colloquial use [as a dictionaryis obligated to make accommodation for) , you think it can simply be used in sny sentence about anything in any situation? That is your stance as a native speaker of English?

Not at all. You were implying that that the word lie always means there’s an intention to deceive but as you seem to have admitted this is not always the case.

@dj2becker said
Assertions that you just conveniently made up?

No. I've not made it up. It was something you explained. You said that when the school children you teach get answers wrong on a maths quiz, you consider each incorrect answer by the children to be a lie. You insisted that the dictionary justified your point of view.

@fmf said
Which "culture" are you talking about? I live in Indonesia and I have lived in Japan. I lived in Australia for a while too. You have talked about living in one of the Gulf states. These are all different cultures.

It's a pretty daft question: this is a forum overwhelmingly populated by Anglophones from the Western world. We are writing in English. While, of course, Anglophone countries have various countries all have different cultures, they can be thought of as all being part of a group, and the trend that he is speaking of is relevant in perhaps every Western culture, at least to some extent.

Your question is just sealioning.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealioning

@fmf said
You used the word "lies" in your thread title. What is your definition of the word "lie" for the purposes of this discussion? It may well be obvious to you, but why don't you define it? Or do you agree with my definition further up the page?

More sealioning.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealioning

As if this debate could not proceed at all without defining lie.

@fmf said
Which "culture" is it then? Do you not know?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealioning

@philokalia said
It's a pretty daft question: this is a forum overwhelmingly populated by Anglophones from the Western world. We are writing in English. While, of course, Anglophone countries have various countries all have different cultures, they can be thought of as all being part of a group, and the trend that he is speaking of is relevant in perhaps every Western culture, at least to some extent.

Your question is just sealioning.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealioning

So your answer to my question is "Western culture"?

@philokalia said
As if this debate could not proceed at all without defining lie.

But the debate is proceeding. And part of it is discussing what is meant by the word "lie" in this context. What's more, I have analyzed the OP from my point of view and offered an opinion. Have you?

@philokalia said
We are writing in English. While, of course, Anglophone countries have various countries all have different cultures, they can be thought of as all being part of a group

So, you think the person quoted in the OP is talking only about English speaking countries?