Thing Not To Indulge In Today: vranyo.

 This word is Russian.

Wikipedia tells us that vranyo consists of white lies, or any lies told without the intention of malicious deceit. The idea is that vranyo will summon up an agreeable social fantasy for us to share.

The same kind of thing is sometimes attempted in Britain, where it is called a joke. Vranyo and a joke can be similarly confusing for foreigners, but the intention with a joke is always to celebrate the falseness of the described possibility. If no one acknowledges the joke, then it's clear something's gone wrong.

Dostoyevsky wrote (a long time ago) that it is impossible to live in educated society in Russia and not tell lies. Even completely honest people, he says, tell lies. Lying is a social dance, a collaboration.

Sometimes, he says, the perpetrator and victim engage in more serious lying, as well.

The way vranyo works is that you know I am lying, and I know you know I am lying, and you know that I know that you know, but I carry on, anyway, we both keep serious, and you take notes.

The Russian government uses vranyo all the time. The West doesn't really understand it. It means The West believes things that a Russian would never have dreamed of believing. It means that negotiation (and, to some extent, trade) has become more or less impossible.

This, obviously, is not the only thing that's got us into this current  mess. 

But it hasn't helped.

Thing Not To Indulge In Today: vranyo. In Russian this is written враньё and means lying or lies. It comes from врать, to lie.