A standard view in social science and philosophy holds that a lie is a dishonest assertion. This study found proof that common lie attributions can be affected by audience uptake aspects, are founded on assessments that the agent made an assertion, and, leastways in some contexts, are not based on deceptive intent attributions. The outcome on assertion attributions is portended by the standard view, but not the finding on intent attributions. These results help to further elucidate the common concept of lying and to illuminate the psychological processes concerned in common lie attributions and linked judgments.