Today Special : Tell a Lie Day
Tell a Lie Day is on April 4 and it gives us permission to tell a lie within reason. It comes only a few days after April Fool’s Day and it makes for the perfect companion holiday for those still in the trickster spirit. There are certain times when lying is acceptable. One of which involves bluffing during a game of poker. It’s better to keep a straight face and act as if our hands aren’t as great as they are. Afterall, sometimes being a good liar can pay off!
HISTORY OF TELL A LIE DAY
Tricksters have been around since the beginning of written myths. They’ve appeared in folktales all over the world as gods, goddesses, spirits, and animals with human traits that have the propensity for causing trouble.
Certain Native American tribes have used these stories as a way to teach their youth meaningful lessons about life. These tricksters have often been depicted as animals like the coyote and find great joy in cheating, lying, tricking, and deceiving for their own personal gain or enjoyment.
“Aesop’s Fables” is a collection of fables from a slave and storyteller in Ancient Greece that was published in 1876. In his story, “The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf”, a boy lies to villagers about a wolf eating his flock of sheep. The boy was actually lying to create a bit of excitement. When a wolf actually came, he told the villagers but they had caught onto his game and they didn’t believe him. The shepherd boy’s sheep were eaten and a wise man tells him that a liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth.
In 1940, Italian author Carlo Collodi’s novel “The Adventures of Pinnochio” was adapted to an animated film. In “Pinnochio” an elderly and impoverished woodcarver was so lonely that he wished for his puppet to come to life. The Blue Fairy appears and grants him his wish, bringing life to Pinnochio, but he’s still made of wood. Through Pinnochio’s trials, he has to make a series of choices that test his goodness and if he tells a lie, his nose grows.
The clown is a Jungian archetype that doesn’t necessarily have supernatural or divine powers. Instead, they’re more charismatically humorous and have had stock character roles used to add some lightheartedness to the story. On the opposite end of the spectrum would be the DC Comics villain Joker, who has taken his clown and lying antics to a dangerous level. Today, being a liar isn’t seen as an admirable trait in most circumstances, but Tell a Lie Day offers people a chance at pretending for a little while.
HOW TO CELEBRATE TELL A LIE DAY
- Tell a small lie : No one wants to get seriously hurt by lies, but telling a harmless one can’t hurt. Tell someone a fact about your life that’s actually untrue. Claim that you climbed Mount Everest or that you once ate one-hundred hotdogs in an hour. After you’ve convinced them, let them in on your game and have a good laugh about it.
- Two truths and a lie : A fun game to play is one where you and some friends tell each other two truths and a lie about yourselves. The idea is to keep all of the instances similar to one another to make it harder to guess, or you can be tactical and tell them one unbelievable truth about yourself so they think that that’s the lie.
- Test your poker face : Play a game of poker and really try to confuse your opponents by managing your reactions. The best way to do it is by playing mind games. When you have a great hand, try indicating that your hand is unbeatable. Revealing what you actually have could make others think the opposite.
5 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT TELL A LIE DAY
- Words lie : People tend to lie more in writing than face-to-face.
- Coyote funny : In the Maidu tribe’s creation myth, the coyote disfigured the world with its laughter, creates mischief, and introduced fire and the first lie to the world.
- Nothing to hide : A study has shown that people are more trusting of bearded men than clean-shaven men.
- Lies hurt : Lying adds stress to your life and can negatively affect your physical health.
- New year for lying : People lie the most in January, usually because of their broken New Year promises.
WHY WE LOVE TELL A LIE DAY
- A small lie is fun : Let’s be honest, being a little bad can be fun sometimes. Tell a Lie Day allows us to unleash the inner trickster within and a white lie can lead to some big laughs.
- Life shouldn’t be taken too seriously : The everyday stresses of our lives can catch up to us, and it’s good to have days where the pressure is off. No one can be good all the time.
- Get better at bluffing : Bluffing is a useful skill that takes some time to master. Many games require you to mislead people, and if you’re too honest, it can work against you.
