People who constantly embellish or completely make up stories on such a grandiose scale that it makes everyone who is listening uncomfortable because they all have to humour this person by not totally calling him/her out on their obvious lie.
Some would advise to call them out, but really… it’s not worth it. This type of person is always one who will make a big show of being called a liar. They will huff and puff and insist that their story is true.
Sometimes it is a small enough lie to be semi-plausible (I drank 19 beers last night) but deep down you just know they are lying. Occasionally something will be too huge to let slip past and that is when you bring the smack down on them (and even then only if you are willing to devote the, ultimately ill spent, time and effort into the process of refuting this asshole).
I don’t know if this personality type is a widespread phenomenon but in the few people that I have met who do this, it is wholly unappealing and childish. I can imagine that it might even be a bit endearing if it were some old guy in a pub telling you how big of a fish he once caught, but I have yet to meet this quaint fisherman.
Honestly if you do this and you are reading this please try to catch yourself next time you decide to spice up your plain story with elements of hyperbolic fiction. It is cute when you’re 6 but not when you’re twenty. —Tadallagash
This article appears in Jul 22-28, 2010.
It is a widespread issue, these people are called compulsive liars. They make things up to make their lives seem better and even go as far as convinving themselves their lies are true (it’s not a lie if you really believe it, or whatever George Costanza said :P). It’s interesting to read about, google it and it will surprise you about how these people all do the same things!
I had one of these as a boss. Hellish four years.
The bright side is, when you’re pushing 50 it becomes okay again. You either appear to be experienced or eccentric. Possibly in the early stages of Oldtimer’s Disease.
This bitch could have been a billion times better.
I think it all depends on how the story is told. If it’s really entertaining- funny or gripping, then I don’t care. As long as I’m enjoying the story! I have a friend like this- she regularly tells tall tales but is so funny most of time when she’s done a story my stomach and face are aching from laughter.
She’s be an amazing stand up comedian because she can make a side-splitting tale of something as mundane as having an H1N1 vaccination.
Are you talking about the Gov’t? Or the Military and their stories of the war being valid?
True, true, true. Often times its not even a total lie just an obvious embellishment to flatter the story teller.
who really fucking cares anymore, 90 percent of the people living today lie about everything, look at george w., the biggest liar so far in history. need i say any more.
When writing numbers, anything less then ten needs to be spelled out and anyting above ten, written numerically.
So: “It is cute when you’re six, but not when you’re 20.”
“90 percent of the people living today lie about everything”
nope, need not say any more… that’s complete fibbery in and of itself.
and if it’s not (which would be shocking) then I’m lying… so we’re already up to 50% in our test case of two…
pants are on fire
19 beers? I can beat that.
as soon as I send my bitch Brittany Fox home and finish off that case of Moet et Chandon and park my Lear jet in my secret mountain lair I’ll have plenty to say believe me 🙂
The title says it all. Sounds to me like you hang out with a bunch of losers who have to embellish to make themselves look better, maybe you should be looking at getting new friends or just appreciate their attempts to entertain you and shut the hell up.
This is actually an interesting story I was told by a guy who was completely dead serious….
he had been been military trained, was raised by wolves, and was going to university as a cover.
I stopped listening after that… hell I’d rather watch a J-Lo double feature of ‘Gigli’ and ‘Maid in Manhattan’ with my eyes forcefully held open through the duration than bother with any more of that.
And NO, J-Lo is not pretty, adorable, or anything positive in any remote sense of the word.
I don’t know if I’d use the word despise… but something close.
You sound like a skilled exagerrator who is jealous of the brazen and fearless compulsive liars and more skilled exagerrators who divert much needed attention from you. maybe that is why you are bothered so much.
also, if you think someone is lying and it really bothers you, it will show. so make the accusation clear, nobody likes the old “um.. heh.. yeah, the things described which i have just heard are maybe less likely to have occured than other things to do occur more often..”*grumpy glare*
this not only is more annoying than listening to a big colourful lie, but also outs yourself as a jealous exaggerator. mhmm.
I have an acquaintance who tells these kind of stories. Every party, he gets on a roll. His mistake is tending to tell the same story again, only more exaggerated every time – like falling from a first story window, then a second floor, then a third… everyone laughs and he thinks it’s because he’s telling a funny story, but it’s really because he’s ridiculous.
I quite like a story teller. Tell ’em, I’ll listen … until I punch you.
No, no, jokes. Jokes. Jokes!!!!!!!
Truth is THE NUMBER ONE cause for lies and embellishments yet the truth will set you free. If you can find humour in that you’re one up on me. We all have a penchant for mischief but why oh why must people lie? I don’t like them either, OP. People worth knowing are hard to find.
Oh, and be sure to walk the talk you’re talkin’. If you walked your own talk you wouldn’t hesitate to “find the humour” in you calling your friend on their bullshit. Dousing their cheeks with a bit of pink might be doing them a favour… lets them know most people DO have a stomach for truth while not all of us find bullshit yummy.
I call these kinds of people 20 80’s. 20 percent of what they say is true. 80 percent, a lie
Totally agree with your bitch, I have no patients for these people. I just dont bother with them, they are not worth your time! Unless you have to deal with them ie. a co worker. Never a good situation! Good luck in the resolve.