I believe the implication at the time was that this was either his human side coming out, or that he figured out how to lie after spending so much time around humans.
There can also probably be exceptions in his mind, like he’s not lying for the sake of lying, he’s using encoded messages to deceive an enemy trying to kill them.
He does something similar in TUD trying to delay their return to space dock to save Kirk and Bones.
Am I misunderstanding this, but wouldn’t Spock be unable to exaggerate if he was full-blooded Vulcan?
To be fair, Spock wasn’t a full-blooded Vulcan. His mother was a human. But also, Vulcans can lie. Tuvok lied all the time; he was a literal spy.
I believe the implication at the time was that this was either his human side coming out, or that he figured out how to lie after spending so much time around humans.
There can also probably be exceptions in his mind, like he’s not lying for the sake of lying, he’s using encoded messages to deceive an enemy trying to kill them.
He does something similar in TUD trying to delay their return to space dock to save Kirk and Bones.
A lie?
Spock: an error.