White lie

This use of the word white in this expression is a prime example of how the colour white always used to be synonymous with good things and the colour black with bad things, a distinction that has caused much grief and suffering down the ages. A white lie is a trivial and inconsequential untruth that does no real harm and when it was first cited from the mid-18th century it was contrasted with a black lie that was the complete opposite. Fortunately, the expression black lie has fallen away and even black people are comfortable with white lies in the figurative sense.