polite fiction

polite fiction
A social scenario in which all participants are aware of a truth, but pretend to believe in some alternative version of events to avoid conflict or embarrassment.

Susan is only able to deal with the fact that her husband has sex with the man down the street through a filter of polite fiction. She knows what her husband is really doing when he says he is going "to buy cigarettes".


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  • Polite fiction — refers to a social scenario in which all participants are aware of a truth, but pretend to believe in some alternate version of events to avoid conflict or embarrassment. It is closely related to euphemism, in which a word or phrase that might be …   Wikipedia

  • fiction — n. 1 an invented idea or statement or narrative; an imaginary thing. 2 literature, esp. novels, describing imaginary events and people. 3 a conventionally accepted falsehood (legal fiction; polite fiction). 4 the act or process of inventing… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Polite — Achille Talon Pour les articles homonymes, voir Achille (homonymie) et Talon. Achille Talon Série …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Le Monde merveilleux du journal Polite — est une série de courts récits de l’univers de fiction d’Achille Talon, paru en album (n°46) en 2004 chez Dargaud. Ils forment une sorte de chronique de la vie quotidienne du périodique de fiction Polite, consacré à la bande dessinée. Le dessin… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Slash fiction — is a genre of fan fiction that focuses on the depiction of romantic (and often sexual) relationships between two or more male characters, who may not be engaged in relationships in the canon universe. While the term was originally restricted to… …   Wikipedia

  • Social science fiction — is a term used to describe a subgenre of science fiction concerned less with technology and space opera and more with sociological speculation about human society. In other words, it absorbs and discusses anthropology , and speculates about human …   Wikipedia

  • New Rules: Polite Musings from a Timid Observer —   …   Wikipedia

  • Mars in the fiction of Leigh Brackett — The planet Mars appears frequently as a setting for many of the stories of Leigh Brackett, and Mars and Martians are frequently mentioned in other stories of the Leigh Brackett Solar System. Brackett s Mars shares some characteristics with the… …   Wikipedia

  • English literature — Introduction       the body of written works produced in the English language by inhabitants of the British Isles (including Ireland) from the 7th century to the present day. The major literatures written in English outside the British Isles are… …   Universalium

  • Politeness — For the Wikipedia policy, see Wikipedia:Etiquette. True Politeness. Your eel, I think, Sir? Cartoon in Punch magazine: 28 July 1920 Politeness is best expressed as the practical application of good …   Wikipedia

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