Do you embellish your stories?

[jesse220]

I tend to do this quite a lot. If something funny/interesting happens to me and I think of something that could have happened to make it more interesting/funny, that's thr wat I'll say it happened. I don't know whether it's just the story teller coming out in me or it's some aspect of me that wants to seem interesting or whatever. Point is I got called out on it recently and the person acted like I'd wronged them in some way. I had always assumed everyone did this, do you do it? Do you think it's wrong to do it?

 

[Hero of Lime]

I do like to think how interesting experiences could've worked out differently, but I never change the story if asked to tell it. If it's an interesting enough story I won't need to change it, if it wasn't funny in the first place I wouldn't be telling it to anyone else anyway.

 

[lacktheknack]

The stuff that happens to me is ridiculous enough as it is. I don't need to embellish to get called a dirty liar.

Besides, life is not a one-up contest, despite how my brain wants to act in a conversation. My stories don't need to be MOAR interesting via lies, just interesting enough to hold someone's attention.

 

[nepheleim]

Hyperbole for the sake of comedy is one thing. Lying about events is something else. Context is everything. If you're trying to impress a girl at the bar, maybe embellish your scar story. If you're on the stand, maybe don't embellish, since you'll end up either barred from proceedings or in jail.

 

[Brian Tams]

If by the end of the story I haven't skillfully killed 3 T-Rexes with a pair of rusty toe nail clippers, I'm clearly not trying hard enough to impress whomever I'm talking to.

Look, when the story is supposed to be funny, I'm going to skew it a little here or a little there to make the joke hit its point better. It's the way funny stories usually go. Stand-ups make a career on doing this.

 

[xmbts]

My stories tend to be awful enough without embellishing.

I find the absurdity of reality sometimes outdoes what my brain can cook up anyway.

 

[Dimitriov]

That's called lying. Unless you make it clear that you've strayed into the realm of fiction then it's not really appropriate, no.

Also it's embellish, not trying to be a dick, just so you know.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

No, not really. I like the challenge of aweing with whatever I've got. Helps out your narrative skills.

 

[manic_depressive13]

I'll exaggerate, but not to the point of inaccuracy. I mean, if I'm telling someone about an awkward encounter I might say "They looked at me like I was out of my mind," when in reality it might have just been a slightly skeptical look. I won't pretend something happened if it didn't at all, or invent extra lines of dialogue, except to the extent that I forget the exact words that were said so I have to approximate them. It depends on what you mean by embellish really. If you're going to outright lie about events it's probably better not to do it in front of other people who were there.

 

[Camaranth]

More often than I should tbh, normally it's just hyperbole for the sake of comedy or in sometimes for the sake of simplicity. for example I wasn't technically beaten up/mugged, I just got hit in the head once by a douchebag on the street during a night out but the term mugged keeps the story simple, the hill I hiked on the detour because of the construction is probably closer to 50 degrees than 72 but the exaggeration takes it from just complaining to comedy. (even though I'm still just complaining)

 

[Wintermute_v1legacy]

Not really. Sometimes I even think I make my stories sound boring on purpose.

 

[Akytalusia]

i tell it how it is. however, my perspective and existence conditions are so alien to the general standard that i'm often accused of this. -.-

 

[kypsilon]

I may exaggerate for comedic effect, but how things actually happened generally stay that way.

 

[Nouw]

Depends on the context really. I'd rather take a what could have been a mundane story told well than an 'embellished' story any day but if it's a few details here and there I'm not gonna care. Hell, even if it's just a flat-out boring story told in a boring fashion I'm not gonna get my panties in a twist; I like hearing about other people's slices of life.

No, not really. I like the challenge of aweing with whatever I've got. Helps out your narrative skills.

I think this is a healthy attitude to have. The story you have to tell could be anyone's but the way you present it, that's unique.

 

[Ferisar]

I use a rising tone and suspense to a greater effect when talking about what happened to me, but I don't generally add anything that would qualify as lying. I generalize and paraphrase things I find aren't relevant/useless information and fixate on whatever the story's delivery is, I guess.

So essentially I do what everyone else does?

 

[Drops a Sweet Katana]

I only really use comedic hyperbole. Other than that, I tell it as it was.

 

[trollnystan]

I sometimes do it unconsciously; when I can't quite remember what happened my brain tells me, "This is probably what happened" and I repeat what that is out loud. And then when I realise what I did or remember what ACTUALLY happened I'm too embarrassed to admit it. I don't know if that counts as embellishing though; that's just my brain being weird I guess.

 

[omegaweopon]

I used to somewhat actually. I grew to be really damn strong, so I used to joke that I could lift a car. Obvs, a bit of an embellishment. But, that finally ended the one day someone called me out on it. Now I don't embellish my strength. I can actually lift a car. (Not superhero style, but wheels off the ground. And on some models, I can pull that off on the engine side)

But, alas, I do often make up straight out lies of stories. Worst part, is because often times they are dreams that made it into my memories, so I swear it happened, yet I know it didn't.With that knowledge, you can decide if the above story is true.

 

[Pink Gregory]

Personally, I find a perverse amusement in making any anecdote of mine as banal and truthful as possible.