# Spot the fake smile **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 16, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile/415848 "2007-08-16T19:51:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile/415848/1 "2007-08-16T19:51:41Z")
The 20 smilers are British, so if there is indeed is such thing as “English Reserve” it may have affected my judgement, in comparison to here, where, if a Southerner smiles ay you, you stays smiled-at. The results page states that surpringly few people can accurately read smiles, but didn’t show how my results compare. I got 17 our of 20 correct Two who were genuine I saw as fake One faker got by me Link to the test: [BBC - Science & Nature - Human Body and Mind - Spot The Fake Smile](http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/smiles/) ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile/415848/2 "2007-08-16T20:02:02Z")
I got 18 out of 20. I missed one genuine I thought was fake and one fake I thought was genuine. I missed number 1 and number 4 ---
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Potato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile/415848/3 "2007-08-16T20:10:29Z")
I only got 14 out of 20. One thing that struck me was how very _unsettling_ almost all of the smiles were - if not the smile itself, the way each one vanished so suddenly at the end of the clip. I had a hard time thinking of **any** of them as genuine, really. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile/415848/4 "2007-08-16T20:11:01Z")
I got them all right. It’s all in the eyes, m’dears ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile/415848/5 "2007-08-16T20:18:47Z")
You got 17 out of 20 correct Look at the labels below each image to see which smiles are genuine and which are fake. Ticks and crosses show which smiles you got right and wrong. Click on the image if you want to see the smile again. Missed 3, 14, & 17. 14 & 17 looked so fake I think I was faked out that anybody could be so fake about faking them. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile/415848/6 "2007-08-16T20:23:39Z")
I got 14. Not surprised, since I’m terrible at reading people most of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile/415848/7 "2007-08-16T20:30:11Z")
17 of 20! ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile/415848/8 "2007-08-16T20:31:15Z")
I did this once before, and couldn’t get through it this time. It’s like the Big Book of British Smiles all over again! ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile/415848/9 "2007-08-16T20:39:17Z")
I got 15 out of 20. I was 12 for 14 but then I was getting so many fakes in a row that I started to question myself, so that’s why I missed half of the last six ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile/415848/10 "2007-08-16T20:44:20Z")
I also got 17 out of 20, and had anticipated being quite bad at it. Interesting looking group of people, no? Any thoughts as to the methodology - how they got these people to “genuinely” smaile and then revert to somberness? ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile/415848/11 "2007-08-16T20:44:22Z")
Smiles aside (18/20), that one guy with the square jaw and the long black hair is scary-looking. I was like: Fake, real, fake, real . . . YIKES! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@Mike\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Fun)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile/415848/12 "2007-08-16T20:51:21Z")
I did terrible! 12/20 Damn there some ugly-ass Brits out there. ---
**Author:** ![Barrington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Barrington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barrington)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile/415848/13 "2007-08-16T21:15:44Z")
[QUOTE=Dinsdale] Any thoughts as to the methodology - how they got these people to “genuinely” smaile and then revert to somberness? [/QUOTE] That puzzled me too, and was a bit distracting. If I have a big, genuine grin, it can take quite a while to disappear, but then I’ve not been under test conditions. Maybe they wait until you’ve grinned and then tell you your best friend just died. Or, more likely, distract you by asking you a question in order to make you concentrate. Dunno. Oh, and I got 17/20. ---
**Author:** ![rhythmonly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee59a6/32.png) [@rhythmonly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhythmonly)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile/415848/14 "2007-08-16T21:45:35Z")
Anyone figure out yet what planet subject number 13 is from? ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile/415848/15 "2007-08-16T21:55:59Z")
11/20. I always knew I can’t read people. That’s barely better than chance. ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile/415848/16 "2007-08-16T22:00:53Z")
16/20 for me. I should have gone with my first instinct on one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile/415848/17 "2007-08-16T22:01:12Z")
16/20. Woo hoo! I’m…mediocre! Sometimes in this life mediocre feels like a triumph to me. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile/415848/18 "2007-08-16T22:02:06Z")
Cumberland’s got nothing on #5! 16/20…Missed #3, #4, #6 and #14. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile/415848/19 "2007-08-16T22:07:52Z")
I got 11 out of the first 15 right and then I got the last 5 completely wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile/415848/20 "2007-08-16T22:13:28Z")
[QUOTE=rhythmonly] Anyone figure out yet what planet subject number 13 is from? [/QUOTE] From the planet Transexual, from the galaxy Transylvania. Yep that’s Riff-Raff’s uh…grandkid. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile/415848.md?page=2)