Sam Armytage: ‘Why don’t people just say what they really think?’

According to Sunrise co-host Samantha Armytage, there are five words a politician says during an interview whenever they are about to utter a lie.

The truth is out there. (Picture: iStock)

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It’s a truth that should be universally acknowledged that when a truth is vehemently acknowledged, it’s most likely not really the truth.

Stay with me here.

This gets less confusing, and (hopefully) more interesting.

If earning a living from journalism for 20 years has taught me anything, it’s that I should have worked harder at school and got the marks to do something more useful, like medicine, or becoming an “influencer”.

If it’s taught me anything else it’s that people often make statements about themselves, when the opposite is true.

Sam Armytage can handle the truth. (Picture: Damian Bennett for Stellar)

It’s not hypocrisy (although that happens a lot in my job too) because in most cases, they’re not being malicious. They’re just being, well, human.

Let me give you an example. When I’m interviewing someone (usually a politician) and they say, “Look, to be perfectly honest...” I know the next words to come out of their mouth will be complete BS.

“In my humble opinion,” is also a favourite.

Humility is a rare bird these days (and it’s like the dodo in media/political circles).

You can put your house on the fact that as soon as someone states their opinion is humble, they’re almost certainly about to be overbearing.

Or when your mother says on the phone, “Anyway, to cut a long story short...”, it ain’t happening.

“To be perfectly honest...” (Picture: iStock)

Another pearler is, “I’m not an expert,” always followed with a “but”.

“I’m not a bigot” (but)...

“I’m not a doctor” (but)...

(I mean, who among us hasn’t doled out unsolicited, irresponsible medical advice to our workmates?)

I like to call it “doing a not-not” and the list of them is endless. It’s not lying. It’s more sinister than that.

And we’re not using irony because, let’s face it, most of us don’t understand what that truly is. It’s not sarcasm or even facetiousness, because we’re not actually being mean.

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I think perhaps it’s just human nature to know deep down what you are, and then state that you are not it.

Sometimes a not-not is used to stall, especially by politicians. (Aren’t they easy to pick on?)

It can give the brain a few extra seconds to get a message to the mouth if you emit a meaningless sentence such as, “To be perfectly honest...”

Footballers are particularly excellent at it. “It was a game of two halves,” they puff as they come off the field.

I think, for many of us, it’s a disorder that manifests in adolescence.

Remember homework? When you’d ransack the Funk & Wagnalls to put any meaningless old words down on the paper, just to reach the exhausting word count on an essay.

Samantha Armytage’s column is in this Sunday’s Stellar.

And it carries through to adulthood. Particularly for blonde journalists, trying to reach the exhausting word count on a monthly column. Ohhh...

I think sometimes we do a not-not because we’re trying not to offend anyone who thinks differently. But considering outrage is virtually a national sport these days, I’m not sure why we bother.

In fact, to be perfectly honest, I heard a rumour “outrage” was going to be added to the schedule at the Olympics next year.

In my humble opinion, I mean, I’m not a doctor, but maybe we should all take a chill pill and say what we truly think, because life is a game of two halves.

Samantha co-hosts Sunrise, 5.30am weekdays, on the Seven Network.

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Originally published as Sam Armytage: ‘Why don’t people just say what they really think?’