English · Idiom Historical

a white lie

Preserved but no longer current.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

A conventional lie, such as telling a caller that Mrs A. or Mrs. B. is not at home, meaning not "at home" to that particu- lar caller.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

dối trá thông thường, như nói với người gọi rằng không có ai ở nhà

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Topics: Black & white Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “a white lie” mean?

A conventional lie, such as telling a caller that Mrs A. or Mrs. B. is not at home, meaning not "at home" to that particu- lar caller.

Is “a white lie” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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