5 verbal signs of lying you should know
It can fall prey to lying up to 200 times a day!
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- People may lie as many as 200 times a day, making it quite difficult to identify deceit.
- While polygraphs can detect stress and cognitive load in liars, verbal and body language cues can also reveal dishonesty.
- Liars often repeat or paraphrase a question to buy time and craft a believable response.
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- The use of absolute language is a common tactic among liars to make their statements sound more convincing and irrefutable.
- Phrases meant to exaggerate honesty, like "to be honest" or "believe me," can signal deceptive intent.
- Qualified language allows liars to cushion their claims and protect themselves in case their falsehood is exposed.
- Avoiding first-person pronouns helps liars distance themselves from actions and evade responsibility.
Most of us find it challenging to distinguish between honest and deceitful people. Most of the signs of increased stress and cognitive load experienced by a liar can only be detected by a polygraph. However, some experts are very good at detecting liars when they encounter them, including psychologists, psychotherapists, and body language readers.
Speaking of which, you can determine whether an individual is lying to you or not, not only through body language but also through verbal cues – the storyteller relies on verbal tricks to appear like a fact-teller instead.
In this article, we will talk about the different ways to catch a liar by his words.
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1. Repeat or paraphrase the question
Lying increases the cognitive burden of deceitful people, as it takes a lot of mental resources not only to formulate a lie but also to come up with ways to tell the lie convincingly.
Re-asking the question is a common method used by dishonest people to buy themselves some time to fabricate a lie. They may find it necessary to repeat almost the entire question or verbatim in full.
However, sometimes they may simply rephrase the question, adding a phrase like "So, what you're asking me is..." Or "Let me be absolutely clear: you want to know if...", this gives them a greater chance of fabricating the most convincing lie they can come up with.
2. Use absolute language
It is safe to assume that what you hear or read is absolute nonsense if the person you suspect is not telling you everything you need to know resorts to the use of absolute language.
Simply put, absolute language leaves no room for doubt. Using absolute language is like saying to a deceitful individual that there are no conditions or exceptions – what is being said is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Especially if what a person claims cannot be proven by any facts, it is very easy for their claim to appear untruthful and exaggerated. On the other hand, a person who is honest does not have to try to be convincing because, after all, there is nothing else to be said but the truth.
3. Exaggerate honesty
Scammers will do anything and everything necessary to look convincing. This is not surprising because, after all, it would not be in the mind of any deceitful person to be caught as part of the plan.
Phrases such as "to be honest" and "to tell the truth to you" are key phrases in the words of many storytellers. Often you may also hear "believe me" or "the truth is that .....".
And if they say such phrases while deliberately pointing with both hands or eye contact, tools used by liars, there could be a scammer in your midst.
4. Use of qualified language
Qualified language, simply put, is the use of words that can increase or decrease the certainty of the phrase – "a brand logo is very attractive" versus "a brand logo is rather attractive."
Liars are fond of using this language and use it with the aim of saving themselves from being accused and in a shameful situation in case their lies are discovered.
Using phrases like "as far as I can remember" or "if you ask me" is like cleaning their hands even before someone indicates that their hands are dirty.
In order to control damage even before damage is done, many liars use qualified language so that they cannot be held fully accountable, or at all, the moment the lie is detected.
5. Stick to the third person's point of view
All liars know that catching them can get them into trouble, which is why they tend to stay away from using any first-person pronouns even if it means making strange phrases.
Sadiq might say something like, "I caused the dent of the car by crashing into a tree." On the other hand, the scammer might instead say, "The car hit a tree, and that's why it dented." By not using the first person, a liar can make it seem like he has no accountability or responsibility at all.
According to experts in deception detection, this is more common in written lies than in spoken lies. So, if you receive an email or text message that looks like the sender is telling someone else's story, the individual may try to give the impression that they have nothing to do with it.
