Liar, liar, pants on fire!

A childhood taunt said to someone who is believed to be lying. A: "Liar, liar, pants on fire!" A: "No, my mom is really a magical princess, I swear!" A: "I swear I didn't take that money!" B: "Liar, liar, pants on fire—I saw you take it from Mom's purse this morning!"

A schoolyard taunt to someone suspected of prevaricating. It also is used by adults, although not usually in a serious sense. However, former New York mayor Edward I. Koch, berating politicians who failed to sign on to remake the state’s ineffective government, said, “You’re either on the side of the angels, or you’re a bum. And if the angels betray their pledges, I’m going to run around the state screaming, ‘Liar, liar, pants on fire!’” (New York Times, August 8, 2010). And a cartoon by Mike Luckovich shows one character with flames on his pants, saying “The evidence is overwhelming, global warming’s real . . .” while the other replies, “Liar, liar, pants on fire” (Boston Globe, July 23, 2010).