大多数人或许都承认，我们偶尔说些善意的谎言。但事实是，超过三分之一的人每天至少会说一个谎言。

　　And it turns out that the fairer sex are the biggest fibbers of all. According to a survey, a shocking four in five women tell lies on a daily basis.

　　一项调查表明，原来女性更加撒谎成性，竟然有五分之四的女性天天都会说谎。

　　Some women even admit to doing so as many as 30 times a day – the equivalent of twice every waking hour, a survey has revealed.

　　调查还披露，一些女性甚至承认一天说谎可达30次，这就相当于在她清醒的时间内每小时说谎两次。

　　This compares with two out of five men who said they tended to tell lies every day.

　　与此相比，五分之二的男性说他们每天会说谎。

　　五分之四的女性天天说谎

　　Fortunately the picture is not as bleak as the statistics imply. People said they mainly shied away from telling the truth to avoid hurting other people’s feelings.

　　幸运的是，实际现状并不是像数据披露的那样糟糕。人们说他们说谎的主要目的是为了避免说真话伤害他人的感情。

　　The biggest reason they lied was to ‘make someone feel better’ (55 per cent). This was followed by ‘to not get into trouble’ (32 per cent) and one in four put it down to the fact that ‘life is complicated’. ‘Proving a point’ and ‘saving face’ were also common reasons to skirt around the truth.

　　他们说谎的最主要原因是为了“让他人感觉良好（持这一目的的人数占了总人数的55%）”；其次是为了“避免陷入麻烦（32%）”；四分之一的人则指出说谎是因为“生活很复杂”。此外，“证明某一观点”和“挽回面子”通常也是人们说谎的原因。

　　Around 2,000 people were questioned for the poll commissioned by insurance company Privilege. And researchers found a common theme running through people’s lies.

　　约2000人参与了保险公司Privilege委办的这一问卷调查。研究人员发现了一个贯穿人们谎言的共同之处。

　　No one likes to leave a plateful of food when invited to a dinner party, and ‘saying you enjoyed a friend or relative’s cooking’ when you might not have was the number one reason for lying (42 per cent).

　　被邀请参加派对时，没人愿意剩下一大盘食物，所以即使没有觉得很好吃也会“说很喜欢朋友或亲戚做的食物”，此处是人们说谎最多的地方（有42%的人说谎）。

　　People also commonly fib about their job, their salary or their weight. And they regularly pretend to share a hobby with someone they are trying to impress.

　　人们还通常在他们的工作、工资或体重这些话题上撒些小谎。面对自己想留下印象的人，会假装与她/他有共同的爱好。

　　However, perhaps fortunately, most of our lies are relatively harmless. Around 80 per cent said they only told a lie when it would not seriously hurt anyone – although one in ten said a small fib they told had ended up hurting someone they were close to.

　　然而，幸运的是，我们大部分的谎言都是相对无害的。大约80%的人说他们仅仅在事情不会严重伤害任何人时才会说谎——尽管十分之一的人说他们说的小谎言最终伤害到了亲近的人。

　　The research also revealed that the most popular place to lie is ‘at home’. Work and job interviews were the next most popular, followed by social media and CVs.

　　同时调查也披露出说谎最多的地方就是“家里”，其次是在工作和求职面试的场所，再次就是社会媒体和简历上。

　　But the truth is most likely to be told in a court or doctor’s surgery.

　　而最真实的话往往出现在法院和医生的诊疗室。

　　As for who we are most likely to lie to, friends are top of the list (30 per cent), followed closely by work colleagues and partners (around one in four) and then children.

　　至于我们最喜欢撒谎的对象：第一位是朋友（占了30%），其次是同事、伴侣（占了四分之一），然后是孩子。

　　Interestingly, it is in middle-age rather than in youth that we are most likely to lie – 46 was the average age of people who admitted regularly telling lies.

　　有趣的是，中年时比年轻时更爱说谎——经常说谎的人群的平均年龄是46岁。

　　Vocabulary

　　fib 无伤大雅的谎言

　　surgery 诊疗室