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Telling fact
If you stand talking with a person and they cross their legs it shows they are involved in the conversation and have no intention of leaving. Source: The Book of Tells by Peter Collett |
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Smokescreens. Liars often produce answers that are designed to confuse - they sound as if they make sense, but they don't. Examples of remarks that don't make sense include Bill Clinton's famous response during the Paula Jones harassment case, when he was asked about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, and answered, 'That depends on what the meaning of "is" is.' Another example is the justification that the ex-mayor of New York City, David Dinkins, gave when he was accused of failing to pay his taxes: 'I haven't committed a crime. What I did was fail to comply with the law.' Negatives. Political lies are frequently couched in the form of a denial - remember Bill Clinton's famous denial, 'I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.' When a politician denies that he is going to introduce a new measure, like raising taxes, you can usually take this as a sign that the measure is about to be introduced. As Otto von Bismarck said, 'Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied.' Liars are more likely to use negative statements. For example, during the Watergate scandal, President Nixon said, 'I am not a crook.' He didn't say, 'I am an honest man.' Word choice. Liars make fewer references to themselves - they use words like 'I', 'me' and 'mine' less frequently than people who are telling the truth. Liars also tend to generalize by making frequent use of words like 'always', 'never' and 'nobody' and 'everyone', thereby mentally distancing themselves from the lie. Disclaimers. Liars are more likely to use disclaimers such as 'You won't believe this', 'I know this sounds strange, but' and 'Let me assure you'. Disclaimers like these are designed to acknowledge any suspicion the other person may feel in order to discount it. Formality. When people are telling the truth in an informal situation they are more likely to use an elided form - for example, to say 'don't ' instead of 'do not'. Someone who is telling a lie in the same situation is more likely to say 'do not' instead of 'don't'. That's because people become more tense and formal when they lie. Page | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
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