a little look at language and a wee bit of wondering

Let me ask: When someone prefaces or follows a statement with "honestly," do you tend to believe that person's statement? Is that term a tip-off that the person isn't being completely honest? Is it akin to certain body language (not meeting someone's eyes, for example) that belies untruths?

I have this reflex, at least when reading something, to question the term and the writer's truthfulness. For whatever reason, I feel so much better if the word is just omitted. At the same time, I don't buy all of those tricks for spotting "tells." I don't believe that everyone who uses the phrase "honestly" or "to be completely honest" and so on is lying. Also, I recently read an article listing signs that someone is lying and I didn't buy the list. Okay, so maybe some people clear their throats often or become shifty-eyed when lying, but almost every item on the list was something I do when talking to people one-on-one -- not because I'm lying but because I don't possess a lot of confidence.

-----------------------

I have been watching a lot of Friends lately. It's one of the two series we own in full and I was bored one day and put it on. Now, it's like a challenge to finish the series although I lost interest about seven hundred episodes ago. Anyhow, I could go on and on about Friends stuff, but I won't, I promise. I will ask, though, why didn't they recognize the 9/11 attacks in some way on the show? It's hard for me to understand why there was never a mention at all. I can understand why they didn't make it a major part of the plot, considering the show is a comedy, however, why not a mention at the end of the show before the credits rolled? Hmm...