Word: fib
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...police officers and poker players, there are few things worse than a cool liar. While most of us have little trouble coming up with a good fib when we need one, no sooner do we start to tell it than we give ourselves away, exhibiting all sorts of facial tics and nervous mannerisms that reveal just how uncomfortable we are with the story we're telling. Truly gifted dissemblers, however, reveal very little of this, lying so easily and skillfully that even the most well-trained eye wouldn't notice a thing. If cops and card players can be fooled...
...tall are you? FM: About five-six. S: A wee bit shorter than me. I'm five-seven. Sign? FM: What? S: Your sign, what you were born under. FM: Virgo. S: How old you be this year? FM: 19. S: Have you got a boyfriend? FM: Yes. (fib) S: How tall is he? FM: About six-one. S: That's...ok. FM: So can you tell me some stories of drunk people? S: I've got a fucking lot of those. But I have...
...Pilates session (ranging from about $38 to 60 each, depending on the studio) two to three times per week. For optimal results, the Pilates workouts should be complemented by regular cardiovascular exercise. So, as FM gossip columnists claim, was Madonna's Pilates coming-out party a bit of a fib...
Once upon a time, Presidents might have fudged the facts to a few Congressmen in smoke-filled rooms, but who was the wiser? If voters heard the words second- or thirdhand, how could they judge them? Now it's impossible to fib in obscurity. Americans can already mouth the words when they see the incessant reruns of that finger-jabbing image: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." Sissela Bok, the high priestess of the scholars of lying, says the TV camera has made it far more dangerous for a President to prevaricate than it was 50 years...
Sometimes you have to teach your kids to fib--or at least learn one of the grownup versions: using a pseudonym. Online, it's the best way to defend your privacy. This often arises when you go to a web page looking for something like free, trial software. Many sites won't let you proceed to their goodies without divulging some personal data--which they will shamelessly rent, sell or trade to who knows whom. So I simply make up a name, address, phone number, zip code or e-mail address. And I encourage my children to do the same...