Right, but we have to call it out every time.

What? This is basic human social skills.

It’s like when you don’t like someone’s friends but you’re not actually going to say that out loud. Instead you say “I'm just too tired to go out” — it’s a “diplomatic out.” Yes it’s a lie at face value but you leave people with their dignity while simultaneously signal your intent. Your friend, who presumably has social skills, picks up the subtext and you successfully communicate two layers of meaning with one sentence.

Press releases are the same thing.

	▲	latexr an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I’m sure this is also cultural, but that approach is terrible. Your friend can’t automatically guess you’re lying, not for the first few times, anyway. Of course they’ll believe you if you say you’re too tired to go out. Then they inadvertently catch you or you reject them so many times they start to believe you don’t want to go out with them, not the other friend. All the while they became closer with the other person, who actually did hang out with them. Stop lying. You’re hurting the friendship. If you care about the person, eventually you’ll have to be an adult and explain why you’re not comfortable with the third person.
	▲	hackable_sand 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		I say: "I don't like your friend because they are a neo-Nazi", and then I don't go out with them.
	▲	watwut 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		No, what you call "basic human social skills" is literally opposite of it. Having good social skills also involves saying "this person/institution is lying". Or even "this person/institution is harming people". Having social skills means also being able to distinguish between innocent nicer phrase, outright enabling and being coconspirator.