UNIVERSITATEA „OVIDIUS” CONSTANȚA

FACULTATEA DE DREPT ȘI ȘTIINȚE ADMINISTRATIVE

SPECIALIZAREA DREPT
AN I, IFR
DISCIPLINA: LIMBA ENGLEZĂ

A liar is not believed when

he speaks the truth

Student: Popa (Silistră) Elena-Alexandra

Contents:

I. Forms of lying.............................................................................................pg. 3

II. How we detect lies.....................................................................................pg. 4

III. Why people lie?.........................................................................................pg. 5

IV. The consequences of lying.......................................................................pg. 6

Bibliography....................................................................................................pg. 7

2
 I. Forms of lying

Lying is a deliberate distortion of the truth. Usually, we are talking about a

mismatch between what is being said and reality.
The best known misleading mechanisms are the following:
1. Denial
It involves giving false answers to a direct question. It is the most stressful way to lie, so most
people use other forms of lying. Denial creates an imbalance in the human psyche called
dissonance. Those who practice denial must protect themselves from the danger of being
discovered.
2. Omission
The most common form of lying is omission or avoidance. The author does not tell a lie, but
only omits to tell information that he does not want to communicate. The stress is small
because he did not lie directly, and the risk of being found to have failed to say something is
small. "I forgot" or "I didn't realize it was important then" leaves it to the liar to prove that the
information was intentionally omitted.
3. Manufacturing
It involves creating a story. It's the hardest form of lying. Those who lie must have a good
memory and think fast. They need to test whether the lie matches what he has already said. It
can be discovered if the liars compare the story with the investigations they have made or if
they notice inconsistencies in sentences or details during the story. Unfortunately for liars,
false stories are anchored only at the beginning or end. When they are asked halfway through
the story to go back to something else or move on, they lose track of events.
4. Exaggeration
It is used in pre-employment interviews. Applicants exaggerate work experience,
responsibilities, education, etc. Well-targeted questions about their knowledge reveal this
form of lying.
5. Minimization
A form of lying that is used to lessen the severity of problems: "We don't do that badly." It is
also used to reduce the extent of mistakes we have made in order to be less punished.

3
 II. How we detect lies
Because lies exist, people have also developed the habit of detecting lies told by
others. In addition to the art of lying, which has existed for so long, the art of detecting lies
has also been established.
Obvious signs include:
1. A liar distances himself from reproaches.
For example, when Bill Clinton said "we didn't have a relationship with this woman," he
could have said "we didn't have a relationship with Monica," but he chose to distance himself
to make us think he knew her so little. , so that he does not even remember his name.
2. A liar uses precise and restrictive expressions.
The best known being: "To tell you the truth…", "Thank you for stating, I thought you would
fool me if not…".
3. A liar repeats the question before answering.
Why? To gain time to formulate the answer. The person who tells the truth is more
spontaneous, the words come to him faster. 4. A liar looks you in the eye more.
A person who tells the truth only keeps in touch for a very short time when he looks you in
the eye. A liar who tries to convince you will make a greater effort. This prolonged contact is
one of the signs of deception.
5. The false smile of the liar.
When we lie, emotions are false, because they have nothing to do with reality. The liar, in
order to transcribe the emotions, can use a smile. It's just that it's almost impossible to
reproduce a spotty smile. We see very well in our pictures that we have a forced smile when
we are not caught in a snapshot. A forced smile resembles pictures in which only the mouth
laughs. When you smile naturally, your eyes contract due to the emotions produced and the
small wrinkles that appear in the corner of the eyes. A sincere smile can be seen in his eyes.
6. The liar gives too many details.
To prove his lie, the liar will force the details a little. It will be unnatural. So when you see
that you get a lot of insignificant details, something is rotten.
7. The liar can suggest to you how the "true culprit" should be punished.
If the liar feels guilty, he may be overwhelmed by the thought of suggesting how to punish the
"true culprit." Usually the one who tells the truth does not need to resort to such
considerations. So, if you come across such behavior, it is clear that you have a liar in front of
you.

4
8. A liar will not tell you his story from the beginning.
If you feel that something is wrong with his story, ask him questions in reverse chronology.
When you lie, it is very difficult to tell the story from the end. This technique is also used by
the best police investigators.
9. A liar will point his toes outward.
Body language matters a lot. A negative attitude with arms crossed and legs pointing
outwards are signs that are not misleading. A sincere and benevolent person will be more
likely to point their toes at you and talk with open arms. In order for these techniques to be
useful to you, remember that any type of communication between two people is not exactly an
exact science and that each person expresses himself differently depending on his degree of
shyness, humor, personality. To deceive yourself as little as possible, try to understand the
person who is talking to you. Pay attention to the way it usually looks at you, to manners, to
gestures. This will make it easier for you to detect when you are lying.
10. A liar is incoherent.
Is the story told by your interlocutor consistent? Even if the person speaks to you carefully
and accurately, if what he tells you does not make sense, do not blame yourself for not
understanding. Have the other person tell you the story again. If it is invented, it will be
difficult for him to remember all the details he first said. At this point he will feel bad, he will
worry about what he will say if you ask him for details from the beginning.

III. Why people lie?

According to some statistics, 42% of Romanians believe that lying is ubiquitous in
everyday life. The reasons why people often lie are the following:
1. They do not clearly remember what they saw and heard.
2. They cannot refrain from making a story more beautiful or valuable than it was, in
connection with themselves. Researchers have found that people lie to look more like they are
in front of others. In this sense, 60% of them lie at least once in a 10-minute discussion. They
flourish the story, especially when it comes to them, because they want to impress.
3. They want to be decent to other people, telling "white lies". They choose to lie to protect
and not hurt someone's feelings.
4. They are pressured by a difficult situation, which they hate to do, but they are forced
because otherwise it would make the situation worse. He knowingly distorts the truth, hoping
to help resolve the situation favorably.

5
5. I want to defend myself from a painful truth or I want to bury some events that simply do
not have to be said exactly as they happened. A certain situation may cause them to lie out of
fear of what might happen to them if they tell the truth. Moreover, they take the negative
consequences into account, and imagine them, imagining what they might feel and suffer if
they finally told the truth.
6. They have a secret desire to create in the eyes of others a different image than the real one.
Behavior is the source of the desire to be accepted, liked and appreciated and more.
7. Honest behavior is not desired. In time, they end up lying out of habit.

IV. The consequences of lying

The lie has existed since ancient times and has always been disapproved of. From my
point of view, lying is bad in itself and should be avoided. The main consequences of lying
are:
1. Lying misleads people and causes problems;
2. Undeserved benefits are obtained, which means that the person who works will not receive
what he deserves. Lying is an easy way to achieve your goal.
3. By lying, people are manipulated;
4. Lying is self-destructive. Through lying, the person can be very stressed, because he is
forced to retain both the truth and the lie;
5. Lying keeps people at bay;

6. A liar is not believed when he speaks the truth. This is one of the most common

morals in childhood stories, but not only. The boy who shouted "wolf" is one of Aesop's
famous fables, from which he derived, at least in English, the expression "to call the wolf,"
meaning "to give a false alarm." Her moral is that liars never have any reward, they are not
believed even when they tell the truth. The reverberations of this fable are attributed by
Diogenes Laertius to Aristotle, who, being asked what to gain by men who tell lies, replied
that their reward arises "when they tell the truth and are not believed."
If you are not a fair person, you often lie to others and you have made a name for yourself as a
liar, you will have a hard time fighting for credibility. No one will believe anything you say,
even if you tell the truth, which will be very frustrating for you.
7. Lies affect us psychologically. The more we tell lies, the higher the level of stress, and the
consequences will not be long in coming.

6
8. Lying can create a person's guilt, remorse and doubts about the ethics of the deed.
Bibliography:

1. J.A. Barnes, Sociologia minciunii, Editura Institutul European, Bucureşti, 2002, tradus
de Vrăjitoru Cristina;
2. Gabriel Liiceanu, Despre minciună, Editura Humanitas, Busureşti, 2006;
3. Constantin Cucoş, Minciuna, contrafacere, simulare, Editura Polirom, Bucureşti,
1997;
4. Allan Pease, Barbara Pease, Limbajul trupului, Editura Polimark, Bucureşti, 2009;
5. https://www.paulekman.com/blog/why-do-people-lie-motives/
6. https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minciun%C4%83