English with Jo

Honesty and Lies

This is an English preparation lesson about honesty, lies and deception.

Most people tell white lies, small untruths that help to save trouble or avoid upsetting someone. How often do we tell white lies? It depends in part on our age, education, and even where we live. According to one study, honesty increases as we get older. While most people use little white lies to make life easier, the majority of people care about honesty in both public and personal life. They believe that ‘honesty is the best policy’.

Video

• Have you ever found out that someone was lying by watching their body language?
• Do you think it is always possible to tell if someone is lying by watching their body language?

Verbs related to Lying

• Trick
• Deceive
• Betray
• Cheat
• Con
• Dupe
• Mislead
• Misinform
• Pretend
• Swindle
• Trick
• Fib

Other Vocabulary

• White lie – a lie to avoid a difficult situation or to prevent us hurting or offending someone
• Liar – a person who tells lies

Phrasal Verbs

• Cover up – to stop people from discovering the truth about something bad
• Dig up – to discover new facts about a person or situation after a lot of searching.
• Catch out – to discover that someone is lying or doing something wrong
• Find out – to discover that someone has been dishonest or has tricked you

Idioms and Phrases

• To pull the wool over somebody eyes – to deceive someone
• Honesty is the best policy – it is better to try to be honest with people even if what you say may hurt or upset them.

Conversation Questions

• Do you think it is ok to lie to avoid hurting someone’s feelings?
• What do you think about lie detector tests? Do you think it is possible to beat them?
• Would you like to take a lie detector test just for fun?
• Why do people lie?
• Do you think white lies are OK?
• When is a white lie acceptable?
• What would you do if someone spread lies about you?
• What do we mean when we say a person is honest?
• Why is honesty important?
• Why is honesty so difficult at times?
• When is honesty difficult?
• When have you been honest?
• At what times do you appreciate people being honest with you?
• Has anyone ever been dishonest with you?
• How can you be honest and not hurt someone?
• Is it ever all right to give only a partial truth?
• When might it be all right to give only a partial truth?
• Are there people that you do not trust?
• How can you tell when people are being dishonest with you?
• What kind of problems does dishonesty cause?
• What are some common situations when people are sometimes dishonest?
• Is dishonesty every justifiable?
• How do you know when to trust someone?