irrational comments on Truth & social graces - Less Wrong

6 Post author: irrational 22 October 2011 04:28AM

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Comment author: irrational 22 October 2011 06:16:19PM 4 points [-]

That specific thing is not a human universal. But the general behavior is, as far as I know. There are always little lies one is supposed to say. E.g. "no, that woman is not as beautiful as you", "he looks just like his dad", "nice to meet you", "please come again" (but I'll never invite you). In Russian, in particular, the very act of greeting is often a lie, since it means "be healthy" and there is effectively no way to "greet" an enemy without wishing him well.

Comment author: RichardKennaway 22 October 2011 07:55:27PM 3 points [-]

In Klingon (fiction alert) the nearest thing to "hello" is nuQneH, which literally means "what do you want?"