When you get bored of your own history, do you make up an alternate one?
I have chipped teeth and over the years, people have asked me about it over and over. It gets boring telling the same story over and over, so I started making up alternate stories just to see if people would find them credible. Lately, I tell both stories and ask people which one sounds more likely.
I’ll tell my stories later on, but first you. Does anyone else do this? Do you get bored of the same stories over and over? If so, what do you do? Are you able to remain polite to people, or do you do as I do sometimes, and just make something up? Have you done this on fluther? In either case, can you give us an example of something with both the real story and the fake story side by side to see if we can guess which is which?
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I pretty much stick with the truth . . . no need to rewrite history, just write a different future.
No need to. While I make no claims to it being the most exciting story ever, I wouldn’t exactly classify it as boring.
Sometimes. It depends on the person I’m telling. If a person I don’t like asks about something, I may make something up to make them feel bad for asking.
Somehow, I find this idea amusing (as long as it’s not going to hurt anyone.) “How’d I get that scar? Shark attack.” I highly doubt I could pull it off, though. I’ve got no poker face, and I’m sure I’d give myself away.
I don’t know Auggie, you seem pretty tough to me. I would believe you:)
I have a bad habit of doing just that. It’s not because I want to deceive people as much as I think life is more interesting if I pretend it really is . At least sometimes…
Speaking of which.. this one time I was hiking in Sweden and I was attacked by a Yeti… real talk.
Depends on the audience for me too. Something I find amusing when I’m on a night out is to invent a whole new person. I have another name, occupation, etc. They’re usually rather odd occupations! It’s just a bit of harmless fun though.
I never feel compelled to make up a history for myself. I guess some stories change a little over time, either because of my memory, or to embellish, but it isn’t really purposeful, except to emphasize a point, or be entertaining. When people I know tell a flat out lie or something completely made up about themselves it bothers me. What I mean is if say my husband tells some grand story with me standing right there, and I know it is bullshit, I want to say to the person he is telling, “that’s not true.”
The story remains the same—but how I tell it, which details I emphasize, and which parts I dramatize changes.
No.
Frankly, I usually assume that people who do this are compulsive liars.
Why on earth would I do that? Even if it seems “harmless” all it would is show disrespect for the listener and damage my own credibility.
Depends on the audience.
When speaking with mother about my history with my alcoholic brother, I’ll tell one story.
When speaking with my children about their alcoholic uncle, I’ll tell another.
Each “history” details the same event, but in very different ways. The story is told to suit the audience at hand.
If my stories are becoming boring, I will either stop telling them or develop a really abridged version for the few remaining interlocutors who might be interested.
(is it idiomatically get bored with something rather than get bored of?)
I’m with @ANef_is_Enuf and @JilltheTooth
Besides, the truth IS, often, stranger than fiction. My stories are all non-fiction and don’t need any embellishing.
What’s the source of your avatar? How did you come up with your name? How did you find fluther?
No one gets bored of those questions? You never have an urge to get “smart?”
Here? I just don’t answer. In the world? Even if I’m bored with the answers, I still won’t lie about it. If someone is asking I assume they have a genuine interest. Just because I’ve answered something 50 times doesn’t mean they asked it 50 times. I like to treat someone with the decency I hope they would treat me if I am the 50th person to ask them a certain question.
Never thought about it that way, before. I think I’d probably have to slit my wrists if people didn’t try to pull the wool over my eyes on a regular basis. It’s one of the more enjoyable things in life, I find.
My life has had so many twists, turns and weird occurrences I don’t know how anyone could be bored by with or of the real truth. But I agree with @linguaphile which parts I emphasize or skim over depend on the audience.
my history is awesome, i wouldn’t get bored of it
@gailcalled I figure people understand, so there’s little need to change. That’s the amazing thing about the human mind, people can understand so much even if it is transmitted in a garbled way. What’s really interesting is what motivates people to insist something should be expressed in a particular way. I can understand that when there’s a locution that apparently speaks something quite different from what was meant to be spoken; but when it’s something that one could only notice by paying serious attention, I really don’t think it matters.
It is particularly disturbing when the thought devoted to sussing out the “correct” grammar is about ten times greater than the thought devoted to whatever was said in the first place. Different priorities, I guess. What I say is hardly worth fussing over. Particularly on a question like this which was meant to be lighthearted and was turned into some moralistic canard. It is at times like this when I wish we did have a “dump question” button.
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