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The Word Honesty. Is It Overused?

Michael Trigg
3 min readOct 8, 2020

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An image of the word Honesty made upof Scrabble Tiles.
Credit: ccscleaning.com

Why do so many people, particularly those being interviewed on the Net, TV, and radio use the word “honest” or variations of, so frequently?

A typical response by a celebrity or a politician or a personality of some type (as a few examples) when being asked a question is to preface their response with one of the following:

To be honest with you, ……….

Honestly? ……………………….

Well, honestly, …………………

And, I love these ones.

To be perfectly honest with you, etc.

To be quite honest with you, etc.

Or this one that in my opinion, is the worst of all.

I’m going to be 100% completely honest with you.

Do you REALLY believe a person who is telling you that what they are about to say is honest? I remember my father telling me; if a person is going to tell you upfront they are honest, keep your wallet in your pocket and run for the hills!

Why does a person feel the need to use a variation of the word “honest” when prefacing an answer to a question? It is so prevalent today, particularly amongst so-called “personalities”. What…

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Michael Trigg
Michael Trigg

Written by Michael Trigg

A “Jack of all Trades” and master of some: Mechanic, Writer, Sales Rep, TV producer, Management, Insurance Agent, Consultant www.handshakeconsultants.com

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