WHITE LIES OF SOCIETY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13453, 1 June 1907, Page 6 (Supplement)

WHITE LIES OF SOCIETY.

i White lies are the technical terms of socie-1 ty. A naval .officer,, says/'Carry : on/'-butj does not desire that anyone should carry j anything upon anything. You ask for the' pleasure of somebody's company, and she, says she will be pleased to accept the invitation, but neither of you supposes thatefehe other will derive' any special, pleasure from . the affair. If you do mean anything you avoid the common phrases. There is noth-, ing morally deplorable in all this. Technical terms are invented either because there ■ is no general phrase to express the precise meaning, or because the meaning is' more neatly conveyed by a hew formula. That is the raison d'etre of white lies. They convey meaning in a way which hurts nobody's feelings. There are, of course, austere devotees who want you to tell the exact truth though the heavens fall and all your friepds cut you for a boor. But few of us are made to enjoy that way of life.' These good folk?; who devote ■themselves to. always saying the exact truth, exult in a pride of virtue'; hot wholly justified. We all know them. ,We could all bear to be, without them. They are the kind of people who tell you the truth about your'complexion and the entree, and take care to tell you that their truth is, the truth. Now, the ' distinguishing mark of this tribe is that their truth is always disagreeable. Any truth that is pleasant they find is ho fun in telling. It is, in fact, their j pride to remind you of the unpleasant. • And a close examination of the species gives reason to believe that their joy is in shocking and giving pain rather than in the truth.