Keeping Far from Falsehood
9. The Torah does not forbid exaggerations and metaphors commonly used in everyday speech, because people are familiar with such expressions and they do not mislead anyone.
10. It is permitted to deviate slightly from the true meaning and embellish phrases with various additions if this is necessary to create a polite form of address. If someone who is not a relative is called a son or brother to express a special regard for him, this is not forbidden. However, all these things depend on the place, time, and local customs.
It is permitted to use comparisons and tell parables (imaginary stories conveying an idea needed to understand the realities of life). This is not considered lying, even though a person does not call things by their proper names or speaks in very general terms. For example, if a person says, “I saw a million ants,” this does not mean that there were exactly that many insects. Expressions such as “I’ve already… a hundred times” or “I saw a million…” are understood as ordinary exaggerations, and therefore the prohibition is not violated.
If a person tells a parable, this does not mean that everything must be based on real events.
11. Sometimes merchants customarily announce that a price will neither go down nor go up. However, everyone knows that these words are part of advertising or a negotiating strategy, so they are not considered a lie, even if prices change during further discussion of the terms.