How long is your nose?

I do like extreme lies though – ones that are so ridiculous that they're funny, such as this one: "I'm late for school because I squeezed the toothpaste tube too hard and it has taken me all morning to get the paste back in the tube!"

I am very iffy about the convenience lie, that is, a superior version of the dog ate my homework. It doesn't actually hurt anyone else and gets you out of trouble. At the same time, it allows you to shirk your responsibilities, which could be rather more serious than delivering an essay on time, and to reinforce your laziness/sloppiness/lack of organisation – whatever it is that prevented you from doing what you should have done. So perhaps such a lie does cause harm – to the liar himself/herself, rather than to others. This might also be the case with other types of lying.

There are different categories of lies , of course, some told to protect others, some to protect ourselves, some to bolster our image, some to gain an advantage. I know someone who has lied for so long she really believes now that it is the truth.
I don't think lying is the worst of sins, unless it is done with malicious intent.
The question of whether it is our duty to tell our friends a hurtful truth is a very difficult one. My grandson was sharing a house with some friends, one of whom was cheating on his girlfriend. She begged my grandson to tell her the truth , so he did (he has Aspergers and never lies). She promptly told her boyfriend, forgave him and got him to blame my grandson, who had to leave the house.
As a child, if somebody asked him if he liked their new shoes, he would give his truthful opinion, which did not always go down well. My sister was the same and caused my mother great embarrassment on many occasions.
It is very true that liars need good memories and they often slip up. However, if their lie is not harming others it is probably better just to let it go.

I don't lie simply because I think lies are usually found out in the end.

I do tell what I call "kind lies". If a friend gives me a gift and later asks if I liked it, rather than say no (if I didn't!) I would probably say something like its very nice. However, if she didn't ask if I liked it I would just say thank you for the gift. Is that "proper" lying?

As for Father Christmas, I don't think my parents ever told me he didn't exist - I think I sort of worked it out for myself. Never believed in the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy anyway.

Grannyknot I am "working" on our year end return as we speak.

absent and glass that gave me a good laugh. And you see here I am on GN and others are feeling sorry for me because I have a report to produce! LOL.

I know someone who is a habitual liar. She probably can't help it now and may even believe her own lies. She is the mother of my first granddaughter and both her children have given up believing her. It's sad, because, having spent much of the last 20 years inventing ailments, now she really is quite ill.

Another thing my grandma always said was (if she thought you were fibbing)

"You tell more lies than Tom Pepper".

I always wondered who this Tom Pepper was??

For most people, it's hard work to lie and it often isn't very convincing. It makes me feel uncomfortable and I would rather not lie. But I'm sure there are occasions when it is justified, as well as others when it probably isn't.

If I was out shopping with someone and they asked my opinion of an item of clothing, which I thought was unflattering, I would say something like "I don't think that style/colour/length, etc., etc. really does you justice." However, if someone was just about to go out in the new dress they'd bought and asked my opinion, I would probably say it looked fine because I wouldn't want to spoil their evening.

Things get more difficult with serious matters. If, for instance, you know a friend's partner is having an affair, should you, if asked, confirm your friend's fears? Or, even if your friend just voices concerns about his/her relationship and asks for your opinion, should you lie by omission? Of course, one might feel it better to be completely above board but I'm not sure it's always the best thing to do. It would depend on the circumstances.

I generally think it's better not to lie to children, even to protect them. A neighbour's much-loved dog died two Christmases ago and she told her grandchildren that he'd gone to help Father Christmas deliver presents. When Easter came, she said he'd gone to help sort out all the Easter eggs - and so it continues. I don't know if these children have caught on yet but it seems unwise to shield children from real life in this way and may make them distrustful in future.

Re Father Christmas - I was very upset to find out it was my Dad who had delivered my presents. I and three other innocents/fools had argued vehemently with the rest of the class that of course there was a Father Christmas, so, apart from anything else, I felt really stupid.

Grannyknot

O what a tangled wed we weave
When first we practise to deceive,
But when we've practised for a while,
How vastly we improve our style.

gillybob puts me in mind of Matilda by Hillaire Belloc

gillybob
grannyknot thats not lying thats self preservation.

gillybob I agree re memory, the tangled web quote springs to mind ...

I do tell fibs though sort of by omission, there are certain things in my job that I can do in two ticks (e.g. bashing out a report) and other people seem to think that it's a mammoth task, and I let them think that ...

Point well made Gilly. Be sure your sins will find you out. Imo a good liar must have a good memory and be very devious and a bad liar will lose a lot of friends. Far too complicated for little me.

I always think liars must have really good memories.

I remember a guy who worked with us. Really clever engineer but terrible fibber. Not malicious nasty lies just silly stories that we all knew not to be true. Perhaps he led a boring life and needed to spice it up? Anyway his most famous "fib" (and we all still laugh about it) started when the guys were all sitting at the bait table........

Dave : "Have any of you guys ever saved anyone's life?"

Guys : "No, not me, no way" etc..... "why? have you?"

Dave : "Yeah well I saved someone from drowning once and it is a good feeling I can tell you"

Guys : (Thinking here we go) "wow Dave that's amazing, where did it happen?"

Dave : Well you know I was walking along the cliff top minding my own business when I hear screaming coming from the sea, I looked down and there was a man clearly in trouble. At first I wasn't sure what to do but then I thought the poor man could drown so I jumped in and dragged him back to the shore"

Guys: "Bloody hell Dave how on earth could you jump right from the cliff top into the sea without hurting yourself?"

Dave : (Realising he has kind of dug a hole here) "well I was the junior diving champion when I lived in Malta" (????? eh?) (Malta was a wild card that we hadn't seen coming)

Guys : "Jeez Dave it's a hell of a way back to the shore dragging someone with you though and the water is bloody deep"

Dave: "Yeah but so much easier when you are wearing flippers!"

Guys : "oh didn't realise you were walking along the cliff top wearing flippers mate"

Dave : " Don't be daft, I wasn't walking along the cliff top wearing the flippers, I put them on as I was jumping in"

Guys: "Bloody hell Dave you jumped from the cliffs into the sea and put flippers on whilst jumping? I think you deserve a bloody medal"

Little guy who works on the lathe : "Aaaah Dave you didn't say you were walking along the cliffs carrying flippers"

Dave was forever known as Dave Bond !!!!!!

harrigran You have outed yourself – you are Mrs McGregor and I claim my £5.

I was shocked to find that 7 year old GD believes in the Easter bunny, he won't be around next year though because I am going to put him in a pie.

It's my reward for losing weight

glass sorry Miss, what is my punishment? grovels deeply................

Ooh er, haven't weighed this week, double punishment now.................

galen too late I am right here behind you!!!!

I've had a richly fruited hot cross bun with butter!
(But don't tell Glass!)
I still believe in the tooth fairy, so there!

butty it sums it up for me.

MOVE dont encourage people to fall off the wagon, shame on you

OK, have a choccy biccie with it Galen. Sugar is good for shock isn't it?