"White lie" as in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time? [closed]

Solution 1:

The term closest to what is described in the story is "lie by omission".

“”You told the truth up to a point, but a lie of omission is still a lie. Lying by omission, otherwise known as exclusionary detailing, is lying by either omitting certain facts or by failing to correct a misconception. Lying by omission - RationalWiki

A white lie is different, as it is a true lie, but told for presumably socially correct motives. As in the answer you give your girlfriend if she asks if she looks fat in that dress she has on.

Solution 2:

What is described in the passage you provided is actually referred to as a "half-truth". A white lie is when you tell someone their outfit looks nice when there's no time for them to change it.

Solution 3:

I think the term you really want instead of "white lie" is:

prevaricate v be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information

(noun form: prevarication)

So it's not actually telling an outright lie, but constructing a narrative that leads the listener to infer something that is not true. When someone discovers the truth, the liar's defense would be to say "I never actually said that." (Which is a true statement, even though the intent was to deceive.)

See TheFreeDictionaryOnline