# Liar, Liar, pants on fire....WTH

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liar-liar-pants-on-fire-wth/281926>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 28, 2004, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liar-liar-pants-on-fire-wth/281926 "2004-12-28T14:07:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liar-liar-pants-on-fire-wth/281926/1 "2004-12-28T14:07:25Z")

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I was thinking about this age old taunt.

What does it mean? Where did it come from?

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**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liar-liar-pants-on-fire-wth/281926/2 "2004-12-28T14:32:27Z")

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Not : _Oh, that’s a relief I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to use the liar, liar pants on fire defense_ ?

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**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liar-liar-pants-on-fire-wth/281926/3 "2004-12-28T16:21:16Z")

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The “pants on fire” phrase is a metaphor for something that is clearly visible and obvious. It is clearly obvious that you are lying, just as it would be clearly obvious if your pants were on fire. That _particular_ metaphor was chosen for its liar/fire rhyme.