Ever told someone their cooking was ‘delicious’ when it really wasn’t? Congratulations, you’re a liar – but maybe that’s not such a bad thing! This intermediate text explores the tricky moral territory of lying.
# 说谎对不对？
大家从小就听过这句话：”说谎不对。”但是，说谎真的永远不对吗？
有一种说谎，我们叫做”善意的谎言“。就是说，你说谎不是为了自己，而是为了不让别人难过。比如，你的朋友做了一顿饭，但是不好吃。你会怎么说？很多人会说：”很好吃！”这是说谎，但是大多数人觉得这样做没有问题。
历史上也有很多这样的例子。第二次世界大战的时候，有些人把犹太人藏在自己家里。当德国士兵来问的时候，他们说：”这里没有人。”这也是说谎。但是这个谎言救了很多人的生命。这种说谎，对不对？
当然，说谎也可以造成很大的问题。如果一个人经常说谎，别人就不会再相信他了。而且，有些谎言会伤害别人，或者让事情变得更复杂。一个小谎言，有时候会变成很多个谎言。
所以，说谎对不对，可能没有一个简单的答案。也许最重要的问题不是”你说谎了吗”，而是”你为什么说谎，结果是什么”。有时候，诚实是最好的选择。但是有时候，一个善意的谎言，可以让世界变得好一点。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 说谎 | shuōhuǎng | to lie / to tell a lie |
| 善意 | shànyì | good intentions / goodwill |
| 谎言 | huǎngyán | lie / falsehood |
| 难过 | nánguò | sad / upset |
| 犹太人 | yóutàirén | Jewish people |
| 士兵 | shìbīng | soldier |
| 生命 | shēngmìng | life |
| 相信 | xiāngxìn | to believe / to trust |
| 伤害 | shānghài | to hurt / to harm |
| 诚实 | chéngshí | honest / honesty |
| 对不对 | duì bù duì | right or wrong?; Is it right?; OK, yes? (colloquial) |
| 大家 | dà jiā | everyone; influential family; great expert |
| 从小 | cóng xiǎo | from childhood; from a young age |
| 就 | jìu | (after a suppositional clause) in that case; then; (after a clause of action) as soon as; immediately after; (same as 就是[jiu4 shi4]) merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precise… |
| 听 | yǐn | smile (archaic); to listen to; to hear; to heed; to obey; a can (loanword from English "tin"); classifier for canned beverages; to let be; to allow (Taiwan pr. [ting4]); (literary) to administer; t… |
| 过 | Guō | surname Guo |
| 这 | zhè | (pronoun) this; these; (bound form) this; the (followed by a noun); (bound form) this; these (followed by a classifier) (in this sense, commonly pr. [zhei4], esp. in Beijing) |
| 句 | gōu | variant of 勾[gou1] |
| 话 | huà | dialect; language; spoken words; speech; talk; words; conversation; what sb said; CL:種|种[zhong3],席[xi2],句[ju4],口[kou3],番[fan1]; old variant of 話|话[hua4] |
| 不对 | bù duì | incorrect; wrong; amiss; abnormal; queer |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still; merely; only; just |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 真的 | zhēn de | really; truly; indeed; real; true; genuine; (math.) proper |
| 永远 | yǒng yuǎn | forever; eternal |
| 吗 | má | (coll.) what? |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 一种 | yī zhǒng | one kind of; one type of |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 叫 | jiào | to shout; to call; to order; to ask; to be called; by (indicates agent in the passive mood); variant of 叫[jiao4] |
| 做 | zuò | to make; to produce; to write; to compose; to do; to engage in; to hold (a party etc); (of a person) to be (an intermediary, a good student etc); to become (husband and wife, frien… |
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to… |
| 就是说 | jìu shì shuō | in other words; that is |
| 你 | nǐ | you (informal, as opposed to courteous 您[nin2]); you (Note: In Taiwan, 妳 is used to address females, but in mainland China, it is not commonly used. Instead, 你 is used to address both males and females.) |
| 不是 | bù shì | no; is not; not |
| 为了 | wèi le | for; for the purpose of; in order to |
| 自己 | zì jǐ | oneself; (attributive) one's own |
| 而是 | ér shì | rather |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 让 | ràng | to yield; to permit; to let sb do sth; to have sb do sth; to make sb (feel sad etc); by (indicates the agent in a passive clause, like 被[bei4]) |
| 别人 | bié ren | other people; others; other person |
| 比如 | Bǐ rú | see 比如縣|比如县[Bi3 ru2 Xian4] |
| 朋友 | péng you | friend; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4] |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); (bound form) clear in one's mind; to understand clearly |
| 一 | yī | one; single; a (article); as soon as; entire; whole; all; throughout; "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1); also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out … |
| 顿 | dùn | to stop; to pause; to arrange; to lay out; to kowtow; to stamp (one's foot); at once; classifier for meals, beatings, scoldings etc: time, bout, spell, meal |
| 饭 | fàn | cooked rice; CL:碗[wan3]; meal; CL:頓|顿[dun4]; (loanword) fan; devotee |
| 不好 | bù hǎo | no good |
| 吃 | chī | to eat; to consume; to eat at (a cafeteria etc); to eradicate; to destroy; to absorb; to suffer (shock, injury, defeat etc); variant of 吃[chi1] |
| 会 | huì | can; to have the skill; to know how to; to be likely to; to be sure to; to meet; to get together; meeting; gathering; (suffix) union; group; association; (bound form) a moment (Tai… |
| 怎 | zěn | how |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 多 | duō | many; much; more; a lot of; too many; in excess; (after a numeral) ... odd; how (to what extent) (Taiwan pr. [duo2]); (bound form) multi-; poly- |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 好吃 | hǎo chī | tasty; delicious |
| 大多数 | dà duō shù | (great) majority |
| 觉得 | jué de | to think that ...; to feel that ...; to feel (uncomfortable etc) |
| 样 | yàng | manner; pattern; way; appearance; shape; classifier: kind, type |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 问题 | wèn tí | question; problem; issue; topic; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 历 | lì | old variant of 曆|历[li4]; old variant of 歷|历[li4]; calendar; to experience; to undergo; to pass through; all; each; every; history |
| 史 | Shǐ | surname Shi |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 例 | lì | example; precedent; rule; case; instance |
| 子 | zǐ | son; child; seed; egg; small thing; 1st earthly branch: 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight, 11th solar month (7th December to 5th January), year of the rat; viscount, fourth of five orders o… |
| 第 | dì | (prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六[di4 liu4] "sixth"); (literary) grades in which successful candidates in the imperial examinations were placed; (old) residence of a high… |
| 二次 | èr cì | second (i.e. number two); second time; twice; (math.) quadratic (of degree two) |
| 世界 | shì jiè | world |
| 大战 | dà zhàn | war; to wage war |
| 时 | shí | old variant of 時|时[shi2]; surname Shi |
| 候 | hòu | to wait; to inquire after; to watch; season; climate; (old) period of five days |
| 有些人 | yǒu xiē rén | some people |
| 把 | bǎ | to hold; to grasp; to hold a baby in position to help it urinate or defecate; handlebar; classifier: handful, bundle, bunch; classifier for things with handles; (used to put the ob… |
| 藏 | Zàng | Tibetan ethnic group; Tibet Autonomous Region (short name for 西藏自治區|西藏自治区[Xi1 zang4 Zi4 zhi4 qu1]) |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 家里 | jiā lǐ | home |
| 当 | dāng | (onom.) dong; ding dong (bell); to be; to act as; manage; withstand; when; during; ought; should; match equally; equal; same; obstruct; just at (a time or place); on the spot; right; just at |
| 德国 | Dé guó | Germany |
| 来 | lái | to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5]); ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zi4 gu3… |
| 问 | wèn | to ask; to inquire |
| 他 | tā | (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his; (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日[ta1 ri4] and 他人[ta1 ren2]) |
| 这里 | zhè lǐ | variant of 這裡|这里[zhe4 li3] |
| 这个 | zhè ge | (pronoun) this; (adjective) this |
| 救 | jìu | variant of 救[jiu4]; to save; to assist; to rescue |
| 这种 | zhè zhǒng | this kind of |
| 当然 | dāng rán | only natural; as it should be; certainly; of course; without doubt |
| 可以 | kě yǐ | can; may; possible; able to; not bad; pretty good |
| 造 | zǎo | to make; to manufacture; to fabricate; party (in a lawsuit or legal agreement); classifier for crops |
| 成 | Chéng | surname Cheng; short name for Chengdu 成都[Cheng2 du1] |
| 大 | dà | big; large; great; older (than another person); eldest (as in 大姐[da4 jie3]); greatly; freely; fully; (dialect) father; (dialect) uncle (father's brother) |
| 如 | rú | as; as if; such as |
| 果 | guǒ | fruit; result; resolute; indeed; if really |
| 一个人 | yī gè rén | by oneself (without assistance); alone (without company) |
| 经常 | jīng cháng | frequently; constantly; regularly; often; day-to-day; everyday; daily |
| 不会 | bù huì | improbable; unlikely; will not (act, happen etc); not able; not having learned to do sth; (coll.) (Tw) don't mention it; not at all |
| 再 | zài | again; once more; re-; further; beyond this point of time; (before an adjective) more; then (after sth, and not until then); no matter how ... (followed by an adjective or verb, an… |
| 而 | ér | and; as well as; and so; but (not); yet (not); (indicates causal relation); (indicates change of state); (indicates contrast) |
| 且 | qiě | and; moreover; yet; for the time being; to be about to; both (... and...) |
| 有些 | yǒu xiē | some; somewhat; rather; a bit |
| 或者 | huò zhě | or; possibly; maybe; perhaps |
| 事情 | shì qing | affair; matter; thing; business; CL:件[jian4],樁|桩[zhuang1] |
| 变得 | biàn de | to become |
| 更 | gēng | to change or replace; to experience; one of the five two-hour periods into which the night was formerly divided; watch (e.g. of a sentry or guard) |
| 复 | fù | to go and return; to return; to resume; to return to a normal or original state; to repeat; again; to recover; to restore; to turn over; to reply; to answer; to reply to a letter; …; to repeat; to double; to overlap; complex (not simple); compound; composite; double; diplo-; duplicate; overlapping; to duplicate; variant of 復|复[fu4]; to reply to a letter |
| 杂 | zá | variant of 雜|杂[za2]; mixed; miscellaneous; various; to mix |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 小 | xiǎo | small; tiny; few; young |
| 有时 | yǒu shí | sometimes; now and then |
| 变成 | biàn chéng | to change into; to turn into; to become |
| 多个 | duō ge | many; multiple; multi- (faceted, ethnic etc) |
| 所以 | suǒ yǐ | therefore; as a result; so; the reason why |
| 可 | kě | (prefix) can; may; able to; -able; to approve; to permit; to suit; (particle used for emphasis) certainly; very; but; however |
| 能 | Néng | surname Neng |
| 简单 | jiǎn dān | simple; not complicated |
| 答 | dā | bound form having the same meaning as the free word 答[da2], used in 答應|答应[da1 ying5], 答理[da1 li5] etc |
| 案 | ǎn | (legal) case; record; table |
| 也许 | yě xǔ | perhaps; maybe |
| 最 | zuì | variant of 最[zui4]; old variant of 最[zui4]; (before an adjective or verb) to the highest degree; (the) most ...; -est; (after 之[zhi1]) best or most extreme example (e.g. 世界之最[shi4 jie4 zhi1 zui4] "the greatest in the world") |
| 重要 | zhòng yào | important; significant; major |
| 为 | wéi | as (in the capacity of); to take sth as; to act as; to serve as; to behave as; to become; to be; to do; by (in the passive voice); variant of 為|为[wei2] |
| 什 | shén | what |
| 结 | jiē | (of a plant) to produce (fruit or seeds); Taiwan pr. [jie2] |
| 最好 | zuì hǎo | best; had better ...; it would be best to ... |
| 选 | xuán | to choose; to select |
| 择 | zē | to select; to pick over; to differentiate; also pr. [zhai2] |
| 好 | hǎo | good; appropriate; proper; all right!; (before a verb) easy to; (before a verb) good to; (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so; (verb complement indicating completion); (… |
| 一点 | yī diǎn | a bit; a little bit; (used in negative expressions) (not) the least bit; (after an adjective, used to form the comparative) a bit more, -er; a point (in a discussion etc); (calligr… |
# Is Lying Right or Wrong?
Everyone has heard this phrase since childhood: ‘Lying is wrong.’ But is lying really always wrong?
There is a type of lying that we call ‘white lies.’ That is to say, you lie not for yourself, but to avoid making others feel bad. For example, your friend cooked a meal, but it doesn’t taste good. What would you say? Many people would say: ‘It’s delicious!’ This is lying, but most people think there’s no problem with doing this.
There are also many examples like this in history. During World War II, some people hid Jewish people in their homes. When German soldiers came to ask, they said: ‘There’s no one here.’ This is also lying. But this lie saved many people’s lives. Is this kind of lying right or wrong?
Of course, lying can also cause big problems. If a person often lies, others won’t trust them anymore. Moreover, some lies can hurt others, or make things more complicated. One small lie can sometimes turn into many lies.
So, whether lying is right or wrong may not have a simple answer. Perhaps the most important question is not ‘Did you lie?’ but rather ‘Why did you lie, and what was the result?’ Sometimes, honesty is the best choice. But sometimes, a white lie can make the world a little bit better.