The Wiz's Quiz - Frequent Liars

Which of the prople below have symptoms of a growing nose or heat in the lower extremities?

"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to put its pants on, or so said Winston Churchill. Here are 10 questions about lies and liars."


1. I did not have sex with that woman: Part 1: Which US President kept his job even though he lied about an extra-marital affair?

a. Jimmy Carter
b. George H. W. Bush
c. Ronald Reagan
d. Bill Clinton


2. I did not have sex with that woman: Part 2: Which British politician lost his job because he lied about an extra-marital affair?

a. Harold Wilson
b. Ted Heath
c. John Profumo
d. Anthony Eden

3. After his father challenged him about how a cherry tree came to have been cut down, George Washington told him: "I'm sorry, father, I cannot tell a lie, I did it."

True
False

4. Of which profession was it sometimes said: "You can tell when they're lying - their lips move"?

a. Lawyers
b. Politicians
c. Doctors
d. Vets

5. Black and white and read all over: A US journalist called Janet Cooke won a major award for a series of articles about an eight-year-old heroin addict. The trouble was, she made it all up. Which of these prizes had she won?

a. Orange Prize for Fiction
b. Pulitzer Prize
c. Nobel Prize
d. Man Booker Prize

6. Where's the money gone? Which 21st Century crook admitted that the investment scheme he ran that conned people out of $50 billion was "just one big lie"?

a. Bernie Madoff
b. Avon Barksdale
c. Conrad Black
d. Terry Adams

7. Many movies with the word liar in the title have been made. "Liar, Liar" would be too obvious, so, tell me, who led the cast of "Big Fat Liar"?

a. Frankie Muniz
b. Lucas Cain
c. Peter Dobson
d. Jonah Baker

8. For many years a British pub hosted the "world's biggest liar" competition. In 2007, a man called John "Johnny Liar" Graham won for the sixth time. The competition was open to just about anyone, except practitioners of one of these professions. Which one?

a. Lawyers
b. Surgeons
c. Accountants
d. Veterinarians

9. Deja vu all over again: According to one of the great sporting philosophers, "All pitchers are liars or crybabies." Who said it?

a. Geoffrey Boycott
b. Muhammad Ali
c. Yogi Berra
d. Peter Allis

10. In 2005, a survey in the USA asked 1,000 people who they thought was the country's biggest liar. Who topped that poll?

a. George W. Bush
b. Bill Clinton
c. Donald Trump
d. O. J. Simpson



Answers

1. The correct answer was Bill Clinton

While in the White House, Clinton had an affair with an intern, Monica Lewinsky. When the affair was made public, he denied it. Among the things he said was "I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again: I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." Clinton subsequently faced an impeachment hearing.In 1998 before a Grand Jury, Clinton admitted that an "improper physical relationship" did take place. He survived the impeachment attempt.

2. The correct answer was John Profumo

In the early 1960s, Lord Profumo was the British Secretary of State for War and began a relationship with a prostitute called Christine Keeler. At the same time she was "seeing" a Russian diplomat, Yevgeny Ivanov. Although Profumo ended the affair, in March 1963 a fellow MP demanded in the House of Commons to know whether Profumo was having an affair with Keeler. Profumo said he knew her, but denied any "impropriety" had taken place. Three months later, with growing pressure on him, Profumo admitted he had had an affair with Keeler. He promptly resigned. Commentators have said that Profumo could have survived had he admitted the affair, but lying to Parliament was considered totally beyond the pale.

3. The correct answer was False

The story was first told in "The Life of George Washington, with Curious Anecdotes Laudable to Himself and Exemplary to his Countrymen", a biography by Mason Locke Weems. He told many fantastic tales about Washington, largely aimed at great man's moral superiority. The tragedy was that the 'cherry tree' story was promulgated as truth in American history classes for decades after.

4. The correct answer was Politicians

The quote is often attributed to the "Max Headroom" TV series. It aired in the USA in 1987 and 1988 and was developed from a British TV show, "The Max Headroom Show" (1985 and 1986). The sci-fi show featured Max Headroom, a stuttering, robotic character who was capable of making outrageous statements.

5. The correct answer was Pulitzer Prize

Cooke wrote the articles for the 'Washington Post' in 1981 and when she was caught out, she returned her Pulitzer. Naturally, since this was America, she sold the movie rights to the story.

6. The correct answer was Bernie Madoff

Madoff engaged it what financial people called 'a Ponzi' scheme, named after Charles Ponzi, the 20th Century conman. Madoff (and Ponzi) worked by promising investors high returns on their money, but instead of investing it, kept some themselves and used the income as it came in to pay off earlier investors. Eventually, of course, the money stopped coming in, and people who wanted their money back found there was none. Only a fraction of the money was ever recovered. In June 2009 he was sentenced to 150 years in prison.

7. The correct answer was Frankie Muniz

This 2002 movie was the story of Jason Shepherd (Muniz) a schoolboy and a compulsive liar who wrote an essay that somehow made its way into the possession of a Hollywood producer. When it was made into a movie, Shepherd travelled to LA to confront the producer and demand the credit.
The three "wrong" answers, incidentally, are actors who have played Elvis Presley.
Muniz is better known for starring in "Malcolm In The Middle" on television.

8. The correct answer was Lawyers

In 2007, 'Johnny Liar' told a tale about a German U-boat invading a British town to steal digital TV decoders.
Competitors were given five minutes to tell the biggest tale. As well as lawyers, politicians, were also banned from the competition; the organisers believed both were too skilled at telling lies.
The Bridge Inn was a public house in the English Lake District. The competition was thought to date back to the 18th century - but maybe that was just a lie.

9. The correct answer was Yogi Berra

This was the man who brought us such pearls of wisdom as "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is", "You can observe a lot by just watching" and "You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I'm not hungry enough to eat six."
Born in St Louis, Missouri, in May 1925, Yogi Berra was a successful baseball player, and was declared to be the greatest catcher of all time. He played most of his career with the New York Yankees and played in 14 World Series. In management, he won the World Series with the New York Mets in 1969 and National League Pennant in 2003. With the New York Yankees, he won the pennant in 1976 and 1981 and the World Series in 1977 and 1978.

10. The correct answer was O. J. Simpson

Clinton rated as a bigger liar than Bush, or even Richard Nixon. Simpson was rated a bigger liar than Trump, Jude Law or Tom Cruise, among others. Fifty-nine percent of those polled said they believed Simpson was a liar. Fox News reported: "...most people believe politicians tell more lies than business leaders, journalists, celebrities and pro athletes combined." The survey was commissioned to promote a book "All Men Are Liars".