Paltering

Paltering (gerund or verb) and palter (verb) refer to an extremely common practice of lying and deceiving with true statements. Probably the most common form of paltering (especially among politicians and interviewees on media) is answering a challenging or embarrassing question with a statement which is true but does not address the original question. Frustrated questioners sense the lie, but instead of identifying the paltering, often rephrase and repeat their original question. Strangely, very few know this word and its phenomenon, thinking a lie must be only a misstatement of fact. Check out a long scholarly article on paltering at www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/psp-pspi0000081.pdf .