# Hirsute. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 8, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hirsute/640405 "2012-11-08T21:06:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![axolotl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@axolotl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/axolotl)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hirsute/640405/1 "2012-11-08T21:06:08Z")
Can a man with a beard tell a bare faced lie? ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hirsute/640405/2 "2012-11-08T21:08:23Z")
Only if he’s in a forest and nobody hears him. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hirsute/640405/3 "2012-11-08T21:10:00Z")
Yes, a bald faced lie (aka bare faced lie) is more about the confidence and seeming trustworthiness of the one telling it rather than facial hair or the lack thereof. ---
**Author:** ![axolotl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@axolotl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/axolotl)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hirsute/640405/4 "2012-11-08T21:11:57Z")
If you can fake sincerity you’ve got it made! ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hirsute/640405/5 "2012-11-08T21:29:21Z")
If he lied and said he didn’t have a beard. ---
**Author:** ![axolotl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@axolotl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/axolotl)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hirsute/640405/6 "2012-11-08T21:35:37Z")
He would get bad marx for lying. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hirsute/640405/7 "2012-11-08T21:37:39Z")
In his case, it would be a bear faced lie. ---
**Author:** ![axolotl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@axolotl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/axolotl)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hirsute/640405/8 "2012-11-08T21:48:44Z")
He has a black moustache so he can’t tell a white lie. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hirsute/640405/9 "2012-11-08T22:36:13Z")
Moved to MPSIMS from GQ. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![dimmy\_derko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/43a26b/32.png) [@dimmy\_derko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dimmy_derko)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hirsute/640405/10 "2012-11-08T22:42:53Z")
The real question is, can you tell a lying-faced bear? Knowing a bear’s intentions can be a life-saver in the wild. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hirsute/640405/11 "2012-11-08T23:46:57Z")
This is why I don’t support the right to arm bears. They might be lying, and you’ll never know until it’s too late. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hirsute/640405/12 "2012-11-09T00:06:35Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Yes, a bald faced lie (aka bare faced lie) is more about the confidence and seeming trustworthiness of the one telling it rather than facial hair or the lack thereof. But the whole point of the expression is that people seem more trustworthy, not only when their manner expresses confidence, but when you can _see_ that–when their face is unconcealed. There’s a reason it’s the ‘evil’ twin that has the beard, rather than the other way round. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hirsute/640405/13 "2012-11-09T00:18:22Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > If he lied and said he didn’t have a beard. But we don’t really know whether he really does have a beard . . . “Schrödinger’s beard.” ---
**Author:** ![axolotl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@axolotl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/axolotl)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hirsute/640405/14 "2012-11-09T00:26:05Z")
Do you mean a beard in a box? ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hirsute/640405/15 "2012-11-09T19:51:47Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > But the whole point of the expression is that people seem more trustworthy, not only when their manner expresses confidence, but when you can _see_ that–when their face is unconcealed. > > There’s a reason it’s the ‘evil’ twin that has the beard, rather than the other way round. You know, I think someone (Cecil?) needs to research the evolution of this phrase. I always thought it was “a **bold-faced** lie” because, as you can see, something that is printed in **bold-face type** sticks out as glaringly obvious (which, in fact, is exactly the intended use of the bold-face font). Can a bearded, or beardless, man tell a lie that is glaringly obvious (to those who bother to look)? Why does anyone tell bold-faced (i.e. blatant) lies? Is it just to test the gullibility of the audience? And then somehow that phrase seems to have turned to “a bald-faced lie” for which I’ve never quite been able to imagine an explanation (although Peremensoe’s is interesting). Did she tell bald-faced lies, knowing that you lack the ability to recognize the deception from her carefully-controlled expressions? And, from there that phrase seems to have turned into “a bare-faced lie” which allows the speaker (liar) to retain locks and ringlets so long as his (her?) mandibular whiskers are shorn. —G! When I was in Guatemala, we used to drink really fresh coffee. We’d make it fresh from picking the beans, right out there in the fields! …–“Verbal” Kint (Kevin Spacey) …The Usual Suspects (None of which has a beard) ---
**Author:** ![axolotl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@axolotl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/axolotl)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hirsute/640405/16 "2012-11-09T19:59:05Z")
I used to be a werewolf but I’m ok now.