'Well, actually John, to be honest-' 'If I were to tell the truth I'd have to say-' .
2006-10-18 14:54:55 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
It's all a cover up for slow thinking. The first phrase is ten syllables, the second phrase eleven. If you speak in a soothingly slow manner as you say it, perhaps sipping your pint reflectively between words, that gives you an awful lot of time to prepare the part of the sentence which actually matters. It beats "um" and "er" any day if you want to buy thinking time!
2006-10-20 01:20:24 · answer #1 · answered by Doethineb 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it means that if a person was going to be "nice", and not so honest, they would not answer at all, or they would not tell the truth.
If you were having a bad day and someone asked you "how are you?" you could say "Well, to be honest, I'm not very good." Or you could just lie and say "I'm good." even though it's not true.
2006-10-18 15:06:26 · answer #2 · answered by Chris P 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Double-speak. Equivocation.
2006-10-18 15:01:33 · answer #3 · answered by Skeff 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋