A polite lie is a lie that a politeness standard requires, and which is usually known to be untrue by both parties. It is heavily dependent on culture if such lies are acceptable. A common polite lie in international etiquette is to decline invitations because of "scheduling difficulties".
The East Asian "saving face" may require this. A person or institution states an untruth, and by social convention, expresses something that cannot be said as such. As such, the polite lie is euphemistic. However, a person from a foreign culture, not recognizing the implied untruth, will find this insulting. For example, in Japanese, answering "no" is seen as impolite. Therefore, one answers "yes", but actually does nothing.
A book written by Kyoko Mori titled Polite Lies discusses the author being caught in between two cultures after moving from Japan to the United States at the age of 20.
Famous quotes containing the words polite and/or lie:
“You know, sometimes, when they say you’re ahead of your time, it’s just a polite way of saying you have a real bad sense of timing.”
—George McGovern (b. 1922)
“It is sometimes necessary to lie damnably in the interests of the nation.”
—Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953)