Liars, unreasonable liars, make me cringe. Everyone tells the occasional white lie, either out of politeness [“Oh, that hat is so cool!”] or out of laziness [“Yeah, I promise I’ll clean my room today.”] But people who lie to impress give me shivers of such intense annoyance, I can’t even explain it. I know my response is exaggerated – let them lie, right? Let them tell me whatever they want to impress me, I can just smile and nod and know it’s not true.
What gets to me, though, is that I want to shake them until they tell me WHY they’re lying. I had a friend in junior high who used to tell me and my friends that her uncle knew the whole cast of this Argentinian soap-opera that was big here. She went on and on about how they’d come to Israel just to meet her in a hotel in Eilat [it’s the supposed “resort city” of Israel.]
I’ve known other people who do this since then as well. But WHY must they do it? I don’t CARE if your uncle knows someone famous, it’s not going to make me like YOU any better! The world is a cruel, cruel place if people feel they need to lie and brag about their family connections just to give themselves worth.
But then we all know that already, I guess.
Slightly Ignorant 
You know, I’m not sure what makes people lie either. I know some people who lie for no reason at all and I just don’t get it. Does it maybe make them feel better for some reason? I have a very hard time lying. If I’m on the phone it’s somewhat easier but to look someone in the eye and lie, I’d never be able to do. My face gets red and my pulse races and I get a goofy grin on my face.
Yeah, exactly! I mean, I can playact, you know, like lie to my mom about where I’m going when I go to get her flowers on her birthday. I do that well. But to lie to someone for no reason, I just don’t ever feel the need to do it!
I had a friend at school who used to go on and on and on about the money that she was going to get when she turned 18 – as though, if I stayed her friend until then, she’d share it with me.
Anyways, when we reached 18… she stopped talking about it. Just stopped. It was strange. I’m not sure if she ever got it. I never asked. It really wasn’t important to me. I didn’t want her money. I was her friend… Her money wasn’t important to me.
I think that some people lie to make themselves feel better than. Some lie to even themselves and then after a while they don’t even know the truth anymore.
I’m like Joy. I just can’t lie. I start feeling physically ill… and every time I tried to lie as a child, I would ALWAYS get caught out. I don’t even try any more. I’m pretty much, what you see is what you get… and that’s it. That’s me.
Well, there’s lying and there’s storytelling, which is of course a form of lying, and I don’t think people do it to hurt anyone, they do it because it’s fun. It’s like fantasizing + sharing. (Also it’s fun to fool people)
Only that with stories, you either know it’s not true or don’t care, you just enjoy the story. But when people (that you know personally) tell it and insist on it so thoroughly it can be so intensely annoying. (Also it’s no fun being fooled)