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Lecture 3

B

enjamin Disraeli, the well-known British prime minister of the 19th
century, has been credited with saying, “There are three types of
lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics.” Unfortunately, lying has been a
part of the human condition since the beginning of time. We’ve all been lied
to, deceived, and perhaps even conned at one time or another in our lives.
Fortunately, even if Disraeli is correct about there being only three types
of lies, we have more than three words in English to describe liars and the
lies they tell. In this lecture, we’ll explore a number of powerful words to
describe cheats, swindlers, charlatans, scam artists, barracudas, sharks, and
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Mountebank (noun)

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expert but isn’t.

z You may have encountered a

mountebank when you’re up late,

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an infomercial for a “nutrition

supplement” derived from an exotic

plant root that can supposedly cure

everything from migraines to stomach

aches. Needless to say, you’re skeptical

of the TV spokesperson’s extravagant

claims. The word for this type of fast-

talking salesperson pushing quack

remedies is a PRXQWHEDQN.

z 0RXQWHEDQN comes from an Italian

phrase meaning to “mount a bench”

and refers to a quack doctor or

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to be doctors, but they

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underneath their authentic

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