Best I can tell, lying has been around a long time. And its many forms have been around for a long time as well. The many forms I am referring to include covering up, making up, omitting, white lies, etc. Realize that experts (see Pamela Meyer at a TED Talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/pamela_meyer_how_to_spot_a_liar) will let you know that we all lie. Many times the lying is not so very bad in nature, but there are also many times when it causes significant problems. When a person asks his or her spouse how they look, the response on some occassions has embellishments. We don’t always know how truthful we should be when answering a question about how someone looks. Realize that there are lies that are intentional, when you say something that is not true (lies of commission) and lies that are also intentional, but when you don’t say something that might cause you a problem (lies of omission).
With couples, they all have to work out the truth/lies issue with each other and they all do it in their own ways. Sometimes we don’t want to know the truth and so we ignore aspects of another’s behavior. And at other times we want to know the truth and we go after it. Couples will bring to therapy how they have suspected an affair for years but never talked about it until they saw a text proving it—in a way, they may not have wanted to know the truth. There are also the cases the come to counseling where once the secret is out, the offended party looks everywhere and wants to know everything about the lie.
What does this mean for you, your other half, and lying? You two have your relationship at stake and how you choose to live your life and how you choose to lie and tell the truth will determine the fate of your relationship. One of the most difficult issues that comes up in couples counseling is not just an affair, but the lying and feelings of betrayal that are felt when the secret(s) come out. It is worth your time to work on, as a couple, how truthful you are being with each other.