# How would people know you've been replaced by an impostor? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 13, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-people-know-youve-been-replaced-by-an-impostor/759824 "2016-07-13T17:19:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-people-know-youve-been-replaced-by-an-impostor/759824/21 "2016-07-13T21:58:45Z")
I’m always chewing on my tongue. Nobody could fake that. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-people-know-youve-been-replaced-by-an-impostor/759824/22 "2016-07-13T22:04:39Z")
If, for instance, I was to catch on fire, if my head tried to separate from my body, grow spider legs and try and crawl away on its own, that _might_ be an imposter. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-people-know-youve-been-replaced-by-an-impostor/759824/23 "2016-07-13T22:04:41Z")
Can they touch the tip of their nose with their tongue? It’s not definitive, because 10% of people can, but if they can’t, it’s definitely not me. Also – I have this one little pattern of freckles on my forearm which… Gaaah! I just checked, and it’s _no longer there_! Apparently I _am_ an imposter! ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-people-know-youve-been-replaced-by-an-impostor/759824/24 "2016-07-13T22:05:58Z")
Say “Hey, **Uke** , give us some Yeats!” NO imposter could memorize as much Yeats as I have within a short period of time. If he did, go on to Lear and Carroll. He’s sure to slip up on “The Pobble Who Has No Toes.” Or somewhere in the Fifth Fit of “The Hunting of the Snark.” ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-people-know-youve-been-replaced-by-an-impostor/759824/25 "2016-07-13T22:26:24Z")
If my podperson auto-salts her food and auto-splendas her beverages without tasting them first. If my podperson doesn’t wake up and turn off her alarm on the phone, then do the glucometer followed by taking the pills and injectables before going in to pee at 5 am. [And I frequently enough wake up 5 minutes before the alarm that letting it wake me up is almost noteworthy.] Not sure of anything else, though I am admittedly very mildly OCD, so I do tend to sort and stack stuff like coins or cooking ingredients by size or color or location in mise en place… ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-people-know-youve-been-replaced-by-an-impostor/759824/26 "2016-07-13T22:27:48Z")
There are probably only a couple dozen people in the world who would know me by name if they saw me. Maybe only five, at the most, that would be able to distinguish an impostor, and I doubt if any would be motivated to try. ---
**Author:** ![Periwinkle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Periwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Periwinkle)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-people-know-youve-been-replaced-by-an-impostor/759824/27 "2016-07-13T23:07:35Z")
If the imposter took a beverage out to the car when she left, and actually brought the container back into the house upon her return, my husband would be surprised. If upon being asked if she wanted to order pizza for dinner instead of whatever else was planned she answered “no, I don’t really feel like having pizza”, that would be a dead giveaway. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-people-know-youve-been-replaced-by-an-impostor/759824/28 "2016-07-14T00:36:45Z")
Buy me a bottled beer with a stick-on label. If I don’t try to peel it off intact, draw your weapon. ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-people-know-youve-been-replaced-by-an-impostor/759824/29 "2016-07-14T01:05:52Z")
He smiles and engages strangers in friendly conversation. ---
**Author:** ![spamforbrains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spamforbrains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spamforbrains)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-people-know-youve-been-replaced-by-an-impostor/759824/30 "2016-07-14T01:52:15Z")
How much research would this imposter do? If it watched your every move for weeks, I suspect it would figure out most people’s quirks, leaving only past memories as a way to trip up the imposter. Surely it couldn’t watch you your entire life and learn about everything you’ve experienced. Of course any dog will immediately know it’s an imposter because it smells different. No way to fake that. ---
**Author:** ![Rich\_Mann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@Rich\_Mann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_Mann)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-people-know-youve-been-replaced-by-an-impostor/759824/31 "2016-07-14T02:13:18Z")
Finely chop some parsley on one plate and some cilantro on another. Put the plates on opposite sides of a large room and ask me to tell you which is which from the middle. I seriously doubt that they could find anyone who has as strong a reaction to the hideous reek of cilantro as me. ---
**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:** [July 14, 2016, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-people-know-youve-been-replaced-by-an-impostor/759824/32 "2016-07-14T06:03:52Z")
Have the impostor have sex with my husband. HE would know immediately. Ask him how Ayn Rand reacted when I beat her at Scrabble. Have him get in and out of the car. If he can mimic all my specific physical ailments, he’s not an impostor. And, of course, have him create some of my art work, start to finish. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-people-know-youve-been-replaced-by-an-impostor/759824/33 "2016-07-14T10:20:05Z")
I have a longstanding agreement with my friends, preferring they err on the side of caution. Decapitate me if there is any question. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-people-know-youve-been-replaced-by-an-impostor/759824/34 "2016-07-14T11:41:00Z")
> [@turtlescanfly](#): > > I read magazines back to front, even if he knew that he would surely slip up on occasion. I read newspapers the same way - entertainment section first, front page last. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-people-know-youve-been-replaced-by-an-impostor/759824/35 "2016-07-14T12:05:05Z")
No one would know. Not even me. I may be an impostor replacing one of a long line of impostors. It’s possible there was no original me and I’ve been nothing but impostors all along. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-people-know-youve-been-replaced-by-an-impostor/759824/36 "2016-07-14T12:29:28Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Ask him how Ayn Rand reacted when I beat her at Scrabble. This isn’t on topic, but I very much want to hear this story ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-people-know-youve-been-replaced-by-an-impostor/759824/37 "2016-07-14T13:10:47Z")
All the impostor would have to do is smile sweetly at everyone he meets and say “Good _mor_ning!” and they’d know right away it wasn’t me. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-people-know-youve-been-replaced-by-an-impostor/759824/38 "2016-07-14T13:20:09Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > When I’m in a public building with signs that have both spelled-out words and braille dots, I always proof-read the braille. That’s pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-people-know-youve-been-replaced-by-an-impostor/759824/39 "2016-07-14T14:22:38Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > > [@Shodan](#): > > > > Leet the Wonder Dog[sup]TM[/sup] would bark his head off. As in the first Terminator movie, no imposter could pass canine check. > > > > Or maybe he would slip up and put his coffee cup into the dishwasher instead of leaving it on top, and my wife would bust him. > > > > Or he would make some other glaring mistake. > > > > Yours truly, > > Shodan > > He-e-e-yyy, WAITaminute! It would have worked, too - if it weren’t for you meddling _kids_! Peace out, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-people-know-youve-been-replaced-by-an-impostor/759824/40 "2016-07-14T14:34:16Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Have the impostor have sex with my husband. HE would know immediately. > > Ask him how Ayn Rand reacted when I beat her at Scrabble. Did she just kind of shrug? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-people-know-youve-been-replaced-by-an-impostor/759824.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-people-know-youve-been-replaced-by-an-impostor/759824.md?page=3)