The opposite of false is true but the opposite of a lie isn’t the truth. The truth is genuine and accurate no matter what, it is reality. A lie however, requires someone to tell it and someone to believe it. So the opposite of a lie cannot be the truth, as that requires no participation, no involvement. The opposite of a lie is something else, something the Finns call Epäuskottava Todenperäisyys. To translate it literally means the Unbelievable Truth.
Unbelievable truths aren’t big important things like the meaning of life, they’re facts you’re told that you don’t believe, like Eskimos have 20 different words for snow (why is this impressive? There must be 50 words for breasts in English and no one finds this meaningful and profound). But the most common and useful unbelievable truths, and the ones I enjoy, are the everyday truths.
“Why didn’t you come to my party?”
My girlfriend doesn’t really like you, I say, and I’m starting to agree with her. Then you smile like it’s a joke. They can’t believe that you are telling the truth, because who would do that. You have told the truth unbelievably, and that, is better than a lie.
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