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{{trope}}
This is a numerical claim that mysteriously shifts over the course of a conversation. Note that there are two different ways this can vary
A sure sign of a [[Bad Liar]]. Not to be confused with Victor Borge's "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY6kElOYcd8 Inflationary Language]" routine.
{{examples}}
== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[Liar Liar]]'' has:
{{quote|
...
'''Samantha''': 118.
'''Fletcher''': ''[skeptically waits]''
'''Samantha''': Alright, fine, I'm 127. }}
* From ''[[George of the Jungle]]'':
{{quote|
'''Lyle''': That doesn't matter. The point of the story is I was outnumbered.
'''African man''': ''(in Swahili)'' It's easy to be outnumbered when you're a zero. }}
* In keeping with tradition, the ''[[Get Smart (film)|Get Smart]]'' movie has Maxwell Smart engage in this exchange:
{{quote|
'''Siegfreid''': I don't believe you.
'''Maxwell Smart''': Would you believe two dozen DELTA Force commandos?
'''Siegfreid''': No.
'''Maxwell Smart''': How about Chuck Norris with a BB gun? }}
* ''[[Get Smart]] Again'' also has this. Twice:
{{quote|
'''Maxwell Smart''': I jog one hundred miles every day! Would you believe it? One hundred miles!
'''Cmdr. Drury''': I find that hard to believe.
'''Maxwell Smart''': Would you believe fifty?
'''Cmdr. Drury''': No!
'''Maxwell Smart''': How about two push ups and a deep breath? }}
{{quote|
▲{{quote| '''Maxwell Smart''': Because at this very moment, this warehouse is being surrounded by one hundred cops with Doberman pinschers. Would you believe it? A hundred cops with Doberman pinschers.<br />
▲'''Nicholas Dimente''': I find that hard to believe. <br />
▲'''Maxwell Smart''': Would you believe ten security guards and a bloodhound? <br />
▲'''Nicholas Dimente''': I don't think so. <br />
'''Maxwell Smart''': How about a Boy Scout with rabies? }}
* A subtle one turns up in ''[[Brazil (film)|Brazil]]''. Every time the car Lowry gets out from the motor pool (that is destroyed by vandals) gets mentioned, the exact details become blurred, starting as a ''Personal'' Transporter, then ''Personnel'' transporter, then finally a ''whole fleet'' of personnel transporters that are unaccounted for.
* In ''[[The Three Musketeers (1973 film)|The Three Musketeers 1973]]'' Porthos employs
{{quote|
== [[Literature]] ==
* In the scene in ''[[The Hobbit]]'' where the dwarves are introduced to Beorn, Gandalf doesn't want to introduce all of them at once, for fear that Beorn won't be willing to provide them with hospitality if he sees all of them right away. As a result, his account of their prior adventures works this way.
* [[Discworld]] examples:
** In ''[[
** In ''[[
** A variation in ''[[
** In ''[[
* Justified in ''[[Snow Crash]]'', thanks to some quality [[Cold Sniper|sniping]].
{{quote|
== [[Live
* ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'':
** The [[Rail Enthusiast|camel-spotting]] sketch has:
{{quote|
'''Mr. [[Stealth Pun|Sopwith]]''': Yes in only three years. Er, I tell a lie, four, be fair, five. I've been camel spotting for just the seven years. Before that of course I was a Yeti spotter. }}
** The Spanish Inquisition sketch crosses this with [[Disorganized Outline Speech]]: "Our chief weapon is surprise. Fear and surprise - Two! Our two chief weapons are fear, surprise and ruthless efficiency - ''Three!''..."
Line 58 ⟶ 57:
** The Kamikaze Scotsmen sketch does the deflationary version with the number of Scotsmen in the regiment, as they keep committing suicide until there's only one left.
* Maxwell Smart of ''[[Get Smart]]'' tends to use the decreasing version. For example:
{{quote|
'''[[Mister Big|Mr. Big]]''': I find that hard to believe.
'''Smart''': Hmmm ... Would you believe six?
'''Mr. Big''': I don't think so.
'''Smart''': How about two cops in a rowboat? }}
* In ''[[Only Fools and Horses]]'' episode "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Uncle", Uncle Albert arrives at the flat with a black eye and no money. He says he's been mugged by a gang of youths, but the number increases every time he tells the story. It turns out he lost the money playing dominoes, and then got in a punch-up with his opponent Knock-Knock over Marlene's mother.
* Done over several seasons in ''[[Coupling]]''. Jane says in the third episode that she and Steve dated for four and a half years. The following episode she tells her psychiatrist it was five years. By episode 16 it's six years, at which point Susan corrects her, saying it was only four years. In the series final, she tells Oliver how she met Steve and that they've "been together ever since," possibly suggesting that she continued counting after they had broken up.
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'':
{{quote|
** This is practically a [[Verbal Tic]] with Ten.
{{quote|
'''The Doctor:''' Yeah, listen, listen, got to dash... things happening. Well... four things. Well... four things and a lizard. }}
* In ''[[Jeeves and Wooster (TV series)|Jeeves and Wooster]]'', Bertie is trying to pose as author Rosie M. Banks for his friend Bingo's family. Bingo's young cousin asks him how many words there are on a page. Clearly having no idea, he comes out with:
{{quote|
* Sheppard does this in the ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'' episode "Sateda". He, Teyla, and Ronon kill a strike force of 25 Wraith. Sheppard initially claims to have killed six of them, but when he learns that Teyla killed eight he quickly ups his claim to nine. By the end of the episode...
{{quote|
* On ''[[3rd Rock from the Sun]]'', the Solomons got audited by the IRS and became worried that they would be exposed as aliens due to their [[Undead Tax Exemption|lack of records from any longer than three years ago]]. Dick tried to "subtly" make Mary think she had known them longer than that:
{{quote|
'''Mary''': It's more like three years.
'''Dick''': Well, then you'd be comfortable saying... seven long years.
'''Mary''': No, it's three years, Dick.
'''Dick''': So I can safely quote you as saying you've known me for six good, verifiable years?
'''Mary''': Three.
'''Dick''': Fair enough.
''[later]''
'''Dick''': I HOPE YOU BURN IN HELL, MARY ALBRIGHT! ''[runs out of the room and then runs back]'' Okay, that last bit was a little harsh, but it's been building up for eight long years.
'''Mary''': Three.
'''Dick''': DAMN! }}
* Happens on ''[[Friends]]'' s3e4. Joey misses an audition because Phoebe fails to give him the message. She poses as his agent to get him a new audition and Joey asks her to get him one more. Well, two. Five, but that's all. No, it's six.
Line 94 ⟶ 93:
== [[Theater]] ==
* In ''[[Henry IV]], part 1'', [[Loveable Rogue|Falstaff]] does this when describing how many men attacked him (after he robs a bunch of other men, whose numbers he's clearly also lying about). In reality there were two (Hal and Poins); by the end of the scene, he's claiming there were eleven.
{{quote|
== [[Video Games]] ==
Line 101 ⟶ 100:
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'', "The Squirt and The Whale": Comic Book Guy buys a new girdle and wears it under a Captain Kirk shirt.
{{quote|
* Whopper from ''[[Pound Puppies]]'' does this at least [[Once an Episode]].
== Other Media ==
* Take this joke about stereotypical Jewish cheapness (one of many versions of the same joke):
{{quote|
'''Father:''' 20 bucks? What do you need 15 bucks for? Fine, I will give you 10, here, have your 5 bucks. (hands him 1 dollar) }}
* Similar one about police procedure:
{{quote|
== [[Real Life]] ==
* [http://notalwaysright.com/a-fence-built-on-magic-beans/4934 This guy at a pet rescue centre], as featured on ''[[(The Customer is) Not Always Right]]''. No need to worry about the dog jumping over his six foot fence, because it's ten feet tall, and a dog can't jump a fourteen foot fence!
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Dialogue]]
[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]
[[Category:Truth and Lies]]
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