A lie — but the polite, careful word for one. Both 'lie' and 'untruth' mean a false statement, yet they feel completely different in the mouth. 'You lied' is an accusation. 'That was an untruth' keeps a cool distance, and lets a speaker point at the false thing without directly attacking the person.

A lie一個謊言 — but the polite, careful word for one不過是比較委婉、小心的說法. Both 'lie' and 'untruth' mean a false statement lie 和 untruth 都是指不實的陳述, yet they feel completely different in the mouth但講出口的感覺完全不同. 'You lied' is an accusation「你說謊了」是一種指控. 'That was an untruth' keeps a cool distance而「那是一句不實之詞」保持著一種冷靜的距離, and lets a speaker point at the false thing讓說話者可以指出那件不實的事 without directly attacking the person而不用直接攻擊那個人.

You hear it where people must be careful: in court, in politics, in newspapers, in official apologies. A politician who will not say 'the minister lied' will say 'the minister told an untruth'. It is countable — one untruth, several untruths — and the usual verb is 'tell': tell an untruth.

You hear it你會在 where people must be careful需要小心說話的場合聽到它: in court, in politics, in newspapers, in official apologies法庭上、政治圈裡、報紙上、正式道歉裡. A politician who will not say一個不願意說 'the minister lied'「部長說謊了」的政治人物 will say會改說 'the minister told an untruth'「部長講了一句不實之詞」. It is countable這是可數名詞 — one untruth一句不實之詞, several untruths好幾句不實之詞 — and the usual verb is 'tell'而常用的動詞是 tell: tell an untruth說一句不實之詞.

Two more things worth noticing. First, it can be gentler in another direction too: adults sometimes call a small child's story an untruth to avoid the heavy word 'lie'. Second, there is an older, rarer use meaning simply 'the state of not being true' with no accusation in it at all, but you are very unlikely to meet that one outside literature.

Two more things worth noticing還有兩件值得注意的事. First第一, it can be gentler in another direction too它也可以往另一個方向更溫和: adults sometimes call a small child's story an untruth大人有時候會把小孩編的故事叫做 untruth to avoid the heavy word 'lie'來避免使用 lie 這個沉重的字. Second第二, there is an older, rarer use還有一個比較舊、比較少見的用法 meaning simply 'the state of not being true'單純指「不真實的狀態」 with no accusation in it at all完全不帶任何指控, but you are very unlikely to meet that one但你很不可能會遇到這個用法 outside literature除了在文學作品裡.