Things People Lie About Most Often

Over 4.6K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of Things People Lie About Most Often
Voting Rules
Thumbs up if you can remember telling that lie in the past 6 months. White lies only. Nothing like, "I killed someone and lied about it." Seek help if you are lying about that.

Lies we tell each other: white lies, red lies, black lies... but mostly just the first category. These are the most common lies we tell on a daily basis. Why lie, you ask? We do it to save face, to smooth out social situations, to make people feel better, to make our lives more comfortable. This list is full of (mostly) harmless lies that we have become so accustomed to saying that we may not even notice them. 

What do people lie about? Some of these lies are pretty common: "How are you?" "Fine, you?" works as shorthand to keep our society on track. (Can you imagine explaining your latest relationship woes to the store clerk and then your barista and then all your co-workers and then your mother? It'd be exhausting.) Some of the lies on this list are a little more serious. Like claiming that you love a book you haven't read or a movie you haven't seen. That's just weird. Maybe you should stop doing that. But the reason those things are on this list of common white lies is because people do tell them all the time. 

So here is your chance to be honest. What do you lie about? Which of these little white lies have you heard coming out of your mouth? If you think of more common lies we tell that aren't on this list, by all means, add them.
Most divisive: I Wasn't Checking Him/Her Out!
Ranked by
  • 1
    3,103 votes

    I'm Fine

    // I could be any number of these things: angry, disappointed, sad, tired...or maybe I'm fine. But you'll never know. 
  • 2
    1,859 votes

    I Gotta Go

  • 3
    2,156 votes

    I'm Busy that Day

    // Busy watching TV.
  • 4
    2,700 votes

    I'm 5 Minutes Away

    // I haven't left yet. 
  • 5
    1,718 votes

    Just Kidding

    I Can Say Anything I Feel Like Saying and Not Get In Trouble
  • 6
    2,149 votes

    Yeah, I'm Listening

    // I haven't heard a word.