Question about People Who Think Others Are Liars

Question

I need a word. I'm having a tangential discussion on talk.origins about liars. There's someone who thinks 90% of the people in the world are liars, and he throws me into that pack, and I was highly offended because I always strive not only to be truthful, but to go into extra information if I think something I say or write might somehow be interpreted as a lie.

So... Here's a definition. I just need a word to go with it:
- a person who believes most people are liars.
I want to refer to this person with the word that would go in that blank.

Some might put "liar" in the blank since it's been said that people who lie think everyone else is a liar, but I need something better.

Thanks for any input,
Damaeus

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]I need a word. I'm having a tangential discussion on talk.origins about liars. There's someone who thinks 90% of the ... blank since it's been said that people who lie think everyone else is a liar, but I need something better.[/nq]
I would say that a person who tends to doubt much of what he hears from most people is a skeptic (BrE-sceptic). That doesn't mean the skeptic challenges what he hears or reads, but that he looks for reliable sources, or verifies the information through other, objective people. In addition, he is slow to pass the information on to others, especially if he knows them to be less skeptical than he.
(Some people are only skeptical in certain environments.)

M-W Online (pruned by me):
Main Entry: skep·tic Function: noun
Etymology:
Latin or Greek; Latin scepticus, from Greek skeptikos, from skeptikos thoughtful, from skeptesthai to look, consider
Date: 1587

1 : an adherent or advocate of skepticism 2 : a person disposed toskepticism especially regarding religion or religious principles sceptic: (same source)
Main Entry: scep·tic, scep·ti·cal, scep·ti·cism
chiefly British variant of skeptic , skeptical , skepticism

Cambridge International Dictionary of English
noun
a person who doubts the truth or value of an idea or belief: People say it can cure colds, but I'm a bit of a sceptic.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I need a word. =A0I'm having a tangential discussion on ... everyone else is a liar, but I need something better.[/nq]
[nq:1]I would say that a person who tends to doubt much of what he hears from most people is a ... or value of an idea or belief: People say it can cure colds, but I'm a bit of a sceptic.[/nq]
How about "a cynic"?

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]There's someone who thinks 90% of the people in the world are liars, and he throws me into that pack, ... to go into extra information if I think something I say or write might somehow be interpreted as a lie.[/nq]
It depends on the context, but that 90% number is low for at least some definitions of "liar". Do you tell the truth about Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy to small children? If not...
That aside, Jonathan's suggestion of "cynic" is probably the word you want.

John Varela
Trade NEWlamps for OLDlamps for email

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I need a word. I'm having a tangential discussion on ... everyone else is a liar, but I need something better.[/nq]
[nq:1]I would say that a person who tends to doubt much of what he hears from most people is a ... is slow to pass the information on to others, especially if he knows them to be less skeptical than he.[/nq]
How about "a cynic"?
"Cynic" is OK, If you like, but, as John and Jonathan define it, I would have to say that I find that word to describe an all-pervading attitude toward life and society.
When I feel like that, I ask myself why I don't just go out and cut my throat.
(I am mildly bipolar. I wouldn't be here if I were severely so.)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]There's someone who thinks 90% of the people in the ... say or write might somehow be interpreted as a lie.[/nq]
[nq:1]It depends on the context, but that 90% number is low for at least some definitions of "liar". Do you ... the Tooth Fairy to small children? If not... That aside, Jonathan's suggestion of "cynic" is probably the word you want.[/nq]
There are those who accuse anyone else of being a liar if that the other person says anything that doesn't conform to his/her belief system. I don't think we can call them "cynics". There are also some who confuse "being wrong" with "lying" (the two groups hae an intersection).

** DAVE HATUNEN (Email Removed) ** * Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow * * My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

Usenet · Answer

Did you check for "Mythophobia"?
"Damaeus" (Email Removed) schrieb im Newsbeitrag

Usenet · Answer

People who are quick to accuse others of lying are normally inveterate liars themselves. It's part of being human to assume that others think like oneself.
A more fun example can be seen in how conspiracy theorists always suggest getting together in secret to plan a course of action to fight the conspirators only those who wish to be part of a conspiracy see conspiracies everywhere, just like those who only hear lies only speak them.
Your blank, therefore, can be replaced by "Liar".

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I need a word. =A0I'm having a tangential discussion on talk.origins abou=t liars. =A0There's someone who thinks 90% of the ... that people who lie think everyone else is a liar, but I need something better. Thanks for any input, Damaeus[/nq]
I'm thinking he's a bit mixed-up. In the telly series House, Dr House claims that everybody lies. I don't assume House means everybody lies all the time. Telling porkies more than just once or twice qualifies someone as having lied (and therefore a liar?) and I would have thought that surely more than 90% of us have lied from time to time. If what that other person is getting at is the right to brand someone a liar because of the occasional fib, then perhaps a definitive explanation of liar is required.
If your counterpart is arguing that everyone fibs, albeit from time to time, then perhaps the word you're looking for is a "realist" If, instead, he has mixed things up, then he is either confused or misinformed, which begs the question, can he be a "delusional"?

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