London - It’s not clever, but half of Britons lie every day to excuse lateness.
The most used is the old chestnut “The traffic was bad”, followed by “My alarm didn’t go off” and “I got lost”.
Psychologist Dr Aric Sigman found in a survey that 75 percent of us regularly tell lies to get out of a predicament.
He said that, in order to be completely credible, such lies must be realistic, contain regret and be delivered with total conviction.
The poll of 2 000 Britons also found that 78 percent claim they only use excuses to prevent hurting someone’s feelings, while 38 percent even claim they lie to make someone else feel good about themself.
Dr Sigman, who carried out the study for Beefeater, said: “The polite excuse is quintessentially British. It allows us to negotiate one another’s feelings without hurting them.
“Excuse-making all too often has negative connotations, but this is not always the case. At times, using an excuse can be for a very good reason and have a positive effect on yourself and others.
“The perfect excuse delivery is part art and part logic – the content and wording is as important as the execution.”
* The top ten lies are:
1 There was really bad traffic.
2 My alarm didn’t go off.
3 I got lost on the way.
4 My train was delayed.
5 My car wouldn’t start.
6 My child was ill.
7 I was snowed in.
8 My car broke down.
9 My partner was ill.
10 I couldn’t get a babysitter. - Daily Mail