“骗子!”骗子!裤子着火了!”

'Liar¹! Liar! Pants on Fire!' “骗子!”骗子!裤子着火了!”

Hello and welcome to the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories.

"Liar, liar, pants on fire!"

Children all over the United States know this simple rhyme. They say it when someone gets caught in a lie. In other words, when someone gets busted² for lying.

The word “lie” comes from Old English through even older German. A lie is an untruth. It is intentional³ and usually has consequences.

But not all lies are created equal.

People often use white lies to prevent hurting the feelings of others or to save themselves trouble. For example, let’s say you are eating dinner at your boss’s house and the food is really bad. When your boss asks you, “How do you like the meatloaf? It’s an old family recipe,” it is a good idea to say you love it.

White lie to the rescue!

Parents and other adults are known to tell white lies to children. Some white lies -- such as lying about Santa Claus -- are part of a tradition and are meant for fun.

Some white lies are to protect children. For example, when a child asks about a person who has died, adults may say the dead person is simply sleeping.

These lies are meant to help, not hurt. But they are still, technically⁴, lies.

Even adults may sometime prefer to hear a lie than a truth that is too difficult to face. In the song “Tell Me Lies,” by the rock group Fleetwood Mac, a woman is asking for lies -- sweet little lies.

Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies.

(Tell me lies, tell me, tell me lies)

Oh, no, no you can't disguise.

(You can't disguise, no you can't disguise)

Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies

Another kind of relatively⁵ harmless lie is called a fib. It is a little, unimportant lie. Fibbers who fib are usually not out to hurt anyone.

Sometimes people simply make things up. Other times they stretch the truth, or exaggerate. In other words, they add details to the truth to make a story better.

Bending the truth is also not a severe lie. If you bend the truth, you take the truth and change it very slightly.                        

A half-truth is trickier⁶. It could be like the name says – a statement that is half true and half false. Or it could be a statement that is completely true but shows only one part of the real story. Half-truths are meant to deceive or to avoid responsibility.

These examples are all clever, subtle ways of lying. They are the opposite of outright⁷ lies. These types of lies are direct. They are also called out-and-out, barefaced⁸ or bold-faced lies.

Many word experts agree that the original expression is "barefaced lie" and that it began in the 1600s. At that time, "bare" meant "bold." Also at that time in history, almost all men had facial hair. It was considered quite bold for a man to be clean-shaven, or barefaced.

Eventually, the word for “hairless” went from “bare” to “bald,” and so did the description for an obvious lie. So, these days you can use bold-faced, barefaced and even bald-faced to mean a lie that is obvious. They all mean that there is no mistake or making excuses. This person is lying!

Barefaced liars⁹ lie easily and often. They lie through their teeth, we like to say.  

The group word for lies is pack. Someone who tells a pack of lies tells one lie after another.

There are packs of lies and there are webs of lies. This expression may have come from a line of Scottish poetry:

“Oh what a tangled¹⁰ web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.”

To be tangled in a web of one’s own lies … is no place to be.                                         

Words and Their Stories

intentional – adj. done in a way that is planned or intended

consequence – n. something that happens as a result of a particular action or set of conditions

deceive to make (someone) believe something that is not true : deception¹¹ is the noun

clever – adj. intelligent and able to learn things quickly

subtle – adj. hard to notice or see : not obvious : clever and indirect : not showing your real purpose

1 liar   

n.说谎的人

参考例句：

• I know you for a thief and a liar!我算认识你了，一个又偷又骗的家伙！
• She was wrongly labelled a liar.她被错误地扣上说谎者的帽子。

2 busted   

adj. 破产了的，失败了的，被降级的，被逮捕的，被抓到的 动词bust的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You are so busted! 你被当场逮住了！
• It was money troubles that busted up their marriage. 是金钱纠纷使他们的婚姻破裂了。

3 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

4 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

5 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

6 trickier   

adj.狡猾的( tricky的比较级 )；（形势、工作等）复杂的；机警的；微妙的

参考例句：

• This is the general rule, but some cases are trickier than others. 以上是一般规则，但某些案例会比别的案例更为棘手。 来自互联网
• The lower the numbers go, the trickier the problems get. 武器的数量越低，问题就越复杂。 来自互联网

7 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

8 barefaced   

adj.厚颜无耻的，公然的

参考例句：

• It's barefaced robbery asking such a high price for that old bicycle!那辆旧自行车要价如此之高真是无耻的敲诈。
• What barefaced cheek!真是厚颜无耻！

9 liars   

说谎者( liar的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The greatest liars talk most of themselves. 最爱自吹自擂的人是最大的说谎者。
• Honest boys despise lies and liars. 诚实的孩子鄙视谎言和说谎者。

10 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

11 deception   

n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计

参考例句：

• He admitted conspiring to obtain property by deception.他承认曾与人合谋骗取财产。
• He was jailed for two years for fraud and deception.他因为诈骗和欺诈入狱服刑两年。