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

/^t/There are also lies that serve the purpose of defense. Especially in Western cultures people tend to hide their feelings towards others. In this way they remain neutral, show no affection; only their close relatives know their true feelings. By maintaining a neutral attitude towards others, they seem to protect themselves against other people's vicious remarks or behaviors. Even a simple question "How are you" has become very neutral and does not demand any specific answer. In fact the person asking somebody is not interested to find out how his/her interlocutor really feels like. Saying "thank you" or "great" is just another instance of telling a small fib. People are not always in good shape, however nearly everybody seems to pretend that he/she is fine. Should we all be condemned for this? Everybody has the right to keep some secrets inside of him. Saying that one is O.K. even if it is not the truth does not mean that such a person is an immoral liar.