Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

butler lie

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.01 in modern English

Syllables: but-ler lie
IPA

11

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A polite lie told in a text, on the phone, or through a similar electronic medium that provides an excuse for why one is unavailable.

Example Sentences

"By indicating that a contact has read a message, this feature may affect response time expectations and also makes it more difficult to tell a butler lie excusing late reply to a message (eg, “sorry; just saw your message”)."
"Thus, if we want to end a mediated communication we may tell a butler lie like 'someone has just knocked at the door', or if we do not want to meet someone at a suggested time we may say we cannot because we 'have an assignment to finish'."
"He's lying, but it's a polite lie. A butler lie."

Etymology

Coined in 2009 by Jeff Hancock et al, referring to the idea of a butler blocking access to a home by lying about the occupant's availability.

Inflected Forms

butler lies (plural)

Questions

What does butler lie mean?: A polite lie told in a text, on the phone, or through a similar electronic medium that provides an excuse for why one is unavailable.
Where does butler lie come from?: Coined in 2009 by Jeff Hancock et al, referring to the idea of a butler blocking access to a home by lying about the occupant's availability.

How to pronounce butler lie

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