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Complete PICLE corpus of essays by Polish advanced EFL students (330,000)

/^t/First of all, no one can condemn a person who lies in order not to hurt other people's feelings. There are situations in which such lying can be excused. Moreover, sometimes lying means simply not telling the truth. When one has an extremely unpleasant message to convey and there is a possibility of not doing so, it is better not to reveal the unwanted news. It is a question of not being cruel to the receipient of the message. People lie very often in everyday situations; for example, when they say that their friends look great or that someone behaves in a right way, just to avoid being unpleasant, rough, cruel. One cannot imagine a situation when every person tells the truth. It would lead to more misunderstandings, quarrels, and fights. To the type of lie told not to hurt someone else's feelings belongs also the so-called "white lie". It is a common, harmless, small lie that probably every person tells many times during their lifetimes. This kind of lie can be excused depending on situation. It is also the lie which in many cases concerns children. They lie very often about their everyday problems, or they simply exaggerate some issues because they like fantasizing.