15 Stories About a Little Lie That Spiraled Into a Major Issue

Many people sometimes like to embellish reality a little, like adding fictitious details to a story or presenting themselves a little better. But what would you do if the fantasy has gone a bit too far and the truth is about to come out? The heroes of this article were on the verge of being exposed and had to turn on their creativity to the max. Their stories are both a lesson and a laugh: they prove that sometimes honesty is the best policy.

• A friend of mine put the knowledge of Italian on her CV. She was hired, and she studied the language hard on her own. She had to communicate with Italians mostly on the phone, and she shouted in the phone, “I can’t hear you! Send a fax!”
  That’s how she got by. And when they did arrive, she was able to speak Italian quite well. © Overheard / Ideer
• My artist husband often tells his friends how he fell in love with me because of my freckles. He often draws my portraits and never stops admiring this “kiss of the sun” for 4 years now. But the thing is that the first time we met, I didn’t have freckles.
  Just on the way to work, someone behind the wheel of a truck sprayed me with rusty sludge. After receiving a ton of compliments and an invitation to a date from my future husband, I took a selfie, went to a salon and got the “freckles” tattooed. © Overheard / Ideer
• When I was a kid, I told everyone in my class that I was in the movie Hook. It was really popular then, so of course no one believed me. Everyone vowed to go home and watch it to prove me wrong (I said it was the scene when 2 kids are skateboarding around Peter. I didn’t even know how to skateboard).
  The next day I was ready for my lie to be thrown in my face, when out of nowhere the most popular kid in my class came in immediately announcing that he saw me in it. His word was bond, everyone believed him, and from that day on I officially was in the hit movie Hook. © DribDrubs / Reddit

• In my CV, I added the knowledge of the language, the textbook of which was gathering dust on the shelf. Who would think of checking my knowledge of Czech? I passed the interview, but they didn’t ask about the language.
  A year later, I had already forgotten about this lie, and then my boss said, “The suppliers from Company N will arrive the day after tomorrow, you will lead the negotiations because your Czech will come in handy!” The boss was pleased afterwards: the Czechs laughed and agreed to our prices. But I didn’t tell jokes, I asked, “Where is the hotel?” — and repeated that I didn’t know Czech. © Overheard / Ideer
• I never wear matching socks because I’m too lazy to roll them up together after laundry. This has been going on since I was in middle school. At age 14, my best friend (who is still my best friend) made fun of me for not wearing matching socks.
  I didn’t feel like explaining, so I got teary-eyed and told her I was colorblind and really sensitive about it. After that I would ask her what colors are and what matches for a few months and then completely forgot about it.
  Fast-forward to 10 years later. I’m 24 and in her kitchen and her mom says, “Sweetie, your socks don’t match.” My friend immediately snaps and goes, “Mom, she’s colorblind!”
  I then remembered what I told my friend 10 years ago. Her mom asked me if it were true, and I laughed and responded with, “I can’t lie to you, I can see colors just fine.” In retrospect, I guess she always has been super helpful in picking my outfits! © mmacaronnie / Reddit
• I politely pretended to remember my dentist when she said she’d known me and my family as a child. Kept up with it for several sessions, and then she asks about family members I don’t have, and I realize she’s got the wrong person, but because I’ve pretended I know her I’ve had to keep it up. It’s been 6 years, and I’m too awkward to admit to it or find a new dentist at this point. © OnlyJones / Reddit

• Work with a woman for the past 4 years, every day she says, “Hi, Owen!” and asks about my day. It’s not my name or even close to my name and I just never corrected her, and now it’s too late. © Saveyso / Reddit
• When meeting my boyfriend for the first time, I flirtatiously lied about my age. 2 years into the relationship, I couldn’t stand it (my conscience got in the way), burst into tears and confessed. I thought it was the end, we would part. And he laughed until he cried and said that I am still a baby for him. © Overheard / Ideer
• I used to work an on-site engineering job that included a bunch of travel. They’d assign work on the weekends pretty regularly. Then I found out that they were working me long hours every day of the week because “I don’t have a family” (I was single at the time). So, they worked me so much that I couldn’t even socialize and try to find a date, and/or start a family, because I didn’t already have one.
  So, I got forced into a lie. I got angry and told my boss that my wife was furious. “I thought you didn’t have a family?” “I don’t. Have a wife, and we’re trying to start a family, but you keep shipping me off every weekend and my wife wants to murder you.” “Oh okay, well, you can stay in the office and work 9-5 Monday-Friday now.” © Luckboy28 / Reddit

• My ex showed up on my doorstep one day, after I’d kicked him out. He handed me a bag with a dozen eggs and a half-pound of bologna. Okay. I took it just to get him off my back.
  Imagine my surprise when I met a mutual friend the same day, and he said, “I saw Alex today, he was bragging that he’d stocked your fridge from top to bottom.” © Catastrophe Me / ADME
• On my first day at work, someone offered to make me a cup of coffee, and they asked if it was how I liked it... I responded, “Perfect, thanks” which is considered to be typical British behavior. However, this was in fact, NOT the perfect cup of coffee, not a perfect a cup of coffee at all.
  Now I don’t have the guts to turn to Steve and degrade his coffee making skills, and instead I have to suffer the consequences every single day and drink his rather bad coffee. It’s been over a year, and I am still living this lie. © YokoDice / Reddit
• I had moved into a new area and found this lady on Facebook who was a nail tech and I wanted to make an appointment. I have bad phone anxiety, and she specified that she wants to be contacted by phone only. She did absolutely amazing nails, so I tried for ages to just call and make an appointment, but just couldn’t.
  So I decided to text her explaining that I have hearing problems, and it’s easier for me to communicate through text messages, and made the appointment that way. To this day, she still thinks I have hearing problems and always speaks very loudly when I get my nails done. © Lavander_Moody / Reddit

• Since the age of 4 I’ve been telling people I have no sense of smell. My parents, friends and even girlfriends all think I can’t use my nose. The reality is it’s been going on so long since I was growing up, I can’t tell people I love the smell of sausage rolls and washing powder. People have no idea, in a way it’s the perfect lie. © Dayvihd / Reddit
• After I found some foreign souvenirs of mine out of place, I told my nephew I have a camera in my room, so that he’ll stay out of it. He keeps asking about it, so I continuously have to add to it.
  So there’s a camera in my room that I can spy through on my phone, and it alerts me any time he comes in. Said camera is so tiny, no one can see it, and is placed in a convenient nail in my wall. © Fjellhum / Reddit
• I was really nervous for my interview, so I didn’t talk and just nodded my head when they asked questions (and I happen to know sign language), so I just pretended to be mute for the whole interview and for the next 6 months that I worked there. © ali0yvr / Reddit

And this mother lied about her daughter for years, but karma finally struck her at the family gathering.