He made a guess based on the evidence he had. It may or may not be “true” or factual. Either way, he wasn’t lying, and the person you responded to didn’t say anything about him lying.
You know, when I wrote it I actually questioned whether I should use the word “lying,” or if doing so would cause an overly nit-picking response, but I decided to expect the best in people. Surely they’d see that I was establishing a shared premise that he wasn’t lying, which is the usual opposite of “telling the truth,” while pointing out that he wasn’t necessarily telling the truth. There’s a middle ground of ignorance.
But by all means, thank you for interjecting yourself in the conversation to state the obvious.
He made a guess based on the evidence he had. It may or may not be “true” or factual. Either way, he wasn’t lying, and the person you responded to didn’t say anything about him lying.
You know, when I wrote it I actually questioned whether I should use the word “lying,” or if doing so would cause an overly nit-picking response, but I decided to expect the best in people. Surely they’d see that I was establishing a shared premise that he wasn’t lying, which is the usual opposite of “telling the truth,” while pointing out that he wasn’t necessarily telling the truth. There’s a middle ground of ignorance.
But by all means, thank you for interjecting yourself in the conversation to state the obvious.