by onzanzabarsands on November 29th, 2006
LIAR, LIAR - "Liar, liar, pants on fire, hang them up on telephone wire. (Said to a lying child)" This is a "derisive rhyme" used by children. "Tradition teaches the child to use sayings in certain situations to make a point emphatically. Such sayings can provide a quick and easy response to the taunt of another child, or a powerful demonstration of the child's stand. The sayings contain a collective wisdom that exerts a certain amount of pressure on children. In other cases, sayings offer a form of play with words; children use the traditional structure of such sayings to play with the rhythm, rhyme, and meaning of words to draw attention to themselves."
From "American Children's Folklore: A Book of Rhymes, Games, Jokes, Stories, Secret Languages, Beliefs and Camp Legends for Parents, Grandparents, Teachers, Counselors and All Adults Who Were Once Children" by Simon J. Bronner (August House Inc., Little Rock, Ark., 1988).
by Valwee on May 20th, 2007
I think its because in the bible it says liars will go to hell. The bible also indicates hell as a lake of fire. So that if you lie you will go to hell if you're sins aren't forgiven. Hell, lying, fire...would the phrase "liar liar pants on fire". Then again everyone will think my theory is totally wrong but it was just a thought.
by BigKris on January 4th, 2007
I believe that "liar liar, pants on fire" derived from a true event. Someone was smoking a cigarette who wasn't suppose to, and put it in their pocket (to hide the cigarette) when spotted. When the person that noticed that person smoking approached them, they noticed their pants were on fire. Hence the saying "liar liar, pants on fire."
by skent80 on March 5th, 2008
It is a paraphrased version of the 1810 poem “The Liar” by William Blake, reprinted here in full.
Deceiver, dissembler
Your trousers are alight
From what pole or gallows
Shall they dangle in the night?
When I asked of your career
Why did you have to kick my rear
With that stinking lie of thine
Proclaiming that you owned a mine?
When you asked to borrow my stallion
To visit a nearby-moored galleon
How could I ever know that you
Intended only to turn him into glue?
What red devil of mendacity
Grips your soul with such tenacity?
Will one you cruelly shower with lies
Put a pistol ball between your eyes?
What infernal serpent
Has lent you his forked tongue?
From what pit of foul deceit
Are all these whoppers sprung?
Deceiver, dissembler
Your trousers are alight
From what pole or gallows
Do they dangle in the night?
Blake, a romantic known for his colorful use of supernatural and ballistic imagery, pretty much settled the question of whether or not honesty is the best policy with that poem.
by Tallyman on March 12th, 2008
the end of ours was "nose as long as a telephone wire"
by caffeenluv on September 15th, 2007
When I was I child we said: "Liar, liar, pants on fire, stick your head inside a tire, turn it round and round and round, wait until you hit the ground." But I have also heard the ending "Hang you with a telephone wire" and "your tongue is as long as a telephone wire" I've recently been arguing with some of my family on the original saying....I was wondering if anyone here might know what it is...???
Thanks, Theresa
by joe mcdoodlefart on October 15th, 2009
liar liar plants for hire
by Mary Gillen on May 29th, 2009
I always thought I created it since have been saying it since I was 2 years old and that was in 1941 ... So maybe was sometime during WW2.
Since 2, I would say that whenever I thought someone was telling me a 'lie'..
HeavenStar aka Mary
by Mimi..smiling...there is no Option Two.. on March 5th, 2008
Liar,
Liar!
Pants are on fire!
(reply)
I don't care,
I don't care!
I can buy another pair!
FromChildren's Rhymes from the 80s - what?!!
No idea of the origin, but it's fun, innit? LOL!
by VSPrasad on March 5th, 2008
Camp Hi-Dee-Ho is the setting for Gilbert's first overnight camping experience in Good Night, Sleep Tight, Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite! Here Gilbert is scared when other campers tell ghost stories, but a midnight trek to the bathroom reveals that he is not the only one frightened. "Those anticipating ... an inaugural camp expe-rience especially will revel in this realistic yet reassuring visit," wrote a Publishers Weekly critic. According to Kitty Flynn in Horn Book, deGroat "gets the thrills and (slight) chills of a first overnight camping experience just right." Gilbert is given the role of George Washington in a class skit in Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire. Though his line is "I cannot tell a lie," when faced with a tough situation, Gilbert realizes that telling the truth is often much harder than lying. Ilene Cooper, writing in Booklist, commented on the "humorous text, the sprightly art with its all-animal cast, and the message that peeks through the fun." According to Anne Knickerbocker in School Library Journal, "this entertaining tale provides good discussion material and should be a winner at storytime."
http://www.answers.com/topic/diane-degroat
by azgirl23 on August 20th, 2008
I'm sure that it was made up about my ex....:P
by Randome on August 20th, 2008
Maybe some little kids with good rhyming abilities back in the late 1800's LOL
by bruceytom on August 20th, 2008
"Pants on fire" comes from the notion that liars will burn in hellfire.
The second line, "Nose as long as a telephone wire" alludes to the character Pinocchio, whose nose lenghthened with every lie.
Conveniently, both rhyme with "liar".
by AnonymousGirl on March 12th, 2008
"Liar, liar, pants on fire, hanging from a telephone wire!" (There are probably other variations of it, too). I am not sure where the line originated.
Okay, who else has multiple meanings for "LOL"? I never know if someone means "laugh out loud", "lots of love", "little old lady" ...
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You're reading What is the origin of the phrase "liar, liar, pants on fire"?
- which can also be phrased in the following ways:
Where did the saying "liar liar pants on fire" come from?( is there more i think i've forgotten something)
Where did the saying "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire" come from?
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Comments
nasty, 'orrible kids! haha!! How we all grew up to be such good, responsible adults is a bleedin' miracle, so it is! ;P
+
by Mimi..smiling...there is no Option Two.. on March 5th, 2008