单词 | white lie |
释义 | white lien. 1. A harmless or trivial lie, esp. one told in order to avoid hurting another person's feelings. Cf. white adj. 7b. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > [noun] > a falsehood, lie > well-intentioned white lie1567 officious lie1577 officious falsity1676 social lie1839 1567 R. Adderley Let. 10 Apr. (Folger L.a.2) I do assure you he is vnsusspected of any vntruithe or oder notable cryme (excepte a white lye) wiche is taken for a Small fawte in thes partes. 1741 Gentleman's Mag. 11 647/1 A certain Lady of the highest Quality..makes a judicious Distinction between a white Lie and a black Lie. A white Lie is That, which is not intended to injure any Body in his Fortune, Interest, or Reputation, but only to gratify a garrulous Disposition and the Itch of amusing People by telling Them wonderful Stories. 1785 W. Paley Princ. Moral & Polit. Philos. 157 White lies always introduce others of a darker complexion. 1850 Amer. Whig Rev. Nov. 468/1 Virtue is a scale, and not a limit...From a white lie to malignant perjury, the degrees are numberless. 1857 C. Reade (title) White Lies. 1946 C. Bush Case Second Chance viii. 118 I'd rather tied myself in knots, and I'd either have to make something of a clean breast or go on telling the same white lies. 2001 Times 24 Apr. ii. 32/4 The little white lie. The little bending of the truth. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > disorders of nails > [noun] wartwalec1325 flaw1574 liverage1598 pterygium1601 hangnail1678 mormal1685 agnail1737 onychia1814 defluvium1817 onychogryphosis1833 liver-sick1836 ingrowing1852 backfriend1864 onychomycosis1865 white lie1899 koilonychia1902 1899 J. Hutchinson in Arch. Surg. 10 146 The very slightest injury done to the nail near its root causes a local opacity, and the nail as it grows forms and exhibits white spots in consequence—‘white lies’. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2015; most recently modified version published online December 2021). < n.1567 |
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