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9[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/SpiderMan https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2962847_peterjonah1.png]]]]
10
11->''"I only tell the truth when it makes it sound like I'm lying."''
12-->-- '''April Ludgate''', ''Series/ParksAndRecreation''
13
14Remember, kids, it isn't lying if you tell the truth in a sarcastic tone of voice!
15
16The MainCharacters are all trying to hold up the {{Masquerade}}, but the NosyNeighbor is [[SecretChaser sniffing around]], trying to figure out the secret. They won't settle for the standard excuses, and you can't convincingly make up something new on the spot. What's a SecretKeeper to do?
17
18Simple: Tell the truth, but in a tone of voice that suggests you don't mean a word of it. ("Yeah. Of ''course'' my roommate is a vampire. I'm so sorry I forgot to invite you to his coffin-warming party.") This usually will get them off your case, plus if they actually do meet your vampire roommate one day, they'll [[CassandraTruth be less likely to take him seriously]].
19
20Of course, the danger of this trope is that the interrogator is SarcasmBlind. They could take your confession at ''face value'' and decide that they were right all along about your {{Masquerade}}. Now your secret is out, you’ll most likely face the consequences of it, and you really only have yourself to blame since you ''did'' confess after all. [[EpicFail Oops!]]
21
22Occasionally results in the trope user being hurt that no-one believes that they could have done what they sarcastically confessed to. It can also be used to lampshade the absurdity of the plot or setting.
23
24See also ClarkKenting, AppealToAudacity. Contrast with CassandraTruth. A CassandraGambit is a large-scale non-sarcastic version of this. Compare YouWouldntBelieveMeIfIToldYou. SuspiciouslySpecificDenial can drift into this trope. The third type of FramingTheGuiltyParty may overlap. A particularly crafty character might use it as a form of PublicSecretMessage. It also may be a ploy for someone who's considered TooFunnyToBeEvil. If the ''audience'' doesn't know it's a confession, this often acts a RewatchBonus. Compare and contrast JustJokingJustification. SubTrope of LyingByOmission, which isn't confined to confessions nor does it require that the omission be an appearance of sincerity.
25
26Note that a Sarcastic Confession is one which the confessing party ''intends'' will not be taken seriously. Otherwise, it's an IgnoredConfession.
27
28
29
30----
31!!Examples:
32[[index]]
33* SarcasticConfession/AnimeAndManga
34* SarcasticConfession/ComicBooks
35* SarcasticConfession/FanWorks
36* [[SarcasticConfession/LiveActionFilms Films - Live-Action]]
37* SarcasticConfession/{{Literature}}
38* SarcasticConfession/LiveActionTV
39* SarcasticConfession/VideoGames
40* SarcasticConfession/WesternAnimation
41[[/index]]
42
43[[foldercontrol]]
44
45[[folder:Advertising]]
46* One of the Advertising/JayBushAndDuke ads for Bush's Baked Beans involves the [[TalkingAnimal talking dog]] Duke printing a bunch of flyers in a secret basement in his doghouse which read "Bush's Secret Family Recipe for Sale." When Jay confronts him with one of the flyers, asking if he had anything to do with it, he replies sarcastically with "Right, Jay, I'm running a printing press in my basement."
47[[/folder]]
48
49[[folder:Jokes]]
50* Bob was having sex with his mistress. He noticed that he had stayed longer than he expected and got stressed. Took a piece of chalk, smeared his fingers and rushed out the door. At home, Alice was waiting for him. "Where have you been?" she asks. "I was sleeping with my mistress" replied Bob. "Show me your hands," she exclaimed. She took one look at his hands and screamed, "you bastard, you spent the whole evening playing pool again!".
51[[/folder]]
52
53[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
54* Horribly subverted in the story of [[Literature/BookOfJudges Samson and Delilah]]. After lying about what his AchillesHeel is three times, he tells the truth the fourth time, apparently expecting her not to believe him. He really should've seen it coming, though, since she ''did'' try all the other things he claimed would weaken him; there's really no reason to think she wouldn't give it a shot ''this'' time, too.
55[[/folder]]
56
57[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
58* In the ''Series/MuppetsTonight'' episode "The Cameo Show", when Charles Darwin and two police officers come across the Muppets carrying the dead body of Arsenio Hall (ItMakesSenseInContext), and Darwin asks "what's in the bag, a dead body?", they sarcastically admit that they killed the guest star. And then when he asks what's really in the bag after they make sure he doesn't have a warrant, Rizzo says that it's Arsenio Hall, and they all laugh again.
59[[/folder]]
60
61[[folder:Radio]]
62* From the BBC radio adaptation of the {{Literature/Raffles}} story "Nine Points of the Law":
63-->'''Addenbrooke:''' To hear you talk, one would think you'd done this kind of thing before.\
64'''Raffles:''' Oh, we have. We're the most notorious thieves in London, Bunny and I.\
65'''Addenbrooke:''' Heaven help us all if you ever do take to that line of country, gentlemen.
66* A common tactic in ''Radio/TheUnbelievableTruth'', in which panelists are given five truths to "smuggle" past the others in a lecture of BlatantLies (sometimes, for example, by slipping them into long lists).
67[[/folder]]
68
69[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
70* In ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' the Sidereals have a charm (magic power), Avoiding The Truth Technique, just for doing this - its effect is to make people convinced that whatever the user says must be false.
71[[/folder]]
72
73[[folder:Theatre]]
74* At the climax of the film/play ''Theatre/ArsenicAndOldLace'', Mortimer uses sarcasm combined with RefugeInAudacity to convince the police captain that his old aunts are crazy when they casually confess to having thirteen bodies buried in their cellar. It helps that they've just signed papers committing themselves to a mental institution.
75* In ''Theatre/TheGoat'', Martin uses a sarcastic confession to test the waters before he [[IgnoredConfession flat out confesses]] to his wife that he's been sleeping with the title character. She laughs it off.
76* In Creator/NormMacdonald's 2017 standup special ''Hitler's Dog, Gossip, and Trickery'', Norm describes a scenario in which a wife confronts her husband about the fact that he's been making eyes at her sister, and her husband responds with a sarcastic confession that grows more and more outlandish.
77-->'''Husband:''' Hey, the only reason I married you is to fuck your sister, right?\
78'''Wife:''' No, I shouldn't have brought it up.\
79'''Husband:''' No! Why wouldn't you bring it up? I mean, you're the victim in this whole thing. I remember at the vows, I kept thinking, "I am going to seduce every member of my wife's family. Regardless of gender."
80* In ''Theatre/{{Pygmalion}}'', Henry Higgins is successfully (if secretly) passing off Eliza as a Duchess at a grand Ball; when he himself is asked his opinion of her, he says she's just a poor flower girl.
81* In the musical version of ''Theatre/TheScarletPimpernel'', Sir Percy announces that he's the Scarlet Pimpernel in the middle of the royal ball, much to the amusement of all present.
82* After the title character of ''Theatre/{{Tartuffe}}'' is caught making a move on his host's wife, the guy who caught him immediately runs off to tell on him to said host, Orgon. Tartuffe responds by saying that yes, he is a terrible, cruel, evil, sinful person who is unworthy of trust. [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter Orgon assumes he's being humble and acting as befits a holy man]], and decides that the accusations are all lies.
83[[/folder]]
84
85[[folder:Visual Novels]]
86* In Case 4 of ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth'', Calisto Yew says she's not related to Cece Yew with a straight face, then breaks down laughing, claiming she was kidding and admitting they're sisters. [[spoiler:She actually ''isn't'' related to Cece, and "Calisto Yew" isn't even her real name.]]
87* ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'':
88** In the second chapter, Miu Iruma takes a jab at Tsumugi Shirogane's plain appearance and personality, saying that her glasses are the only thing that makes her noticeable. Tsumugi replies that in actuality, her glasses are the only thing concealing her true form, and those who witness it pay a terrible price. [[spoiler:Her "true form" is indeed as horrific as she implies since she's the mastermind and LoonyFan who orchestrated the entire killing game.]]
89** Before the Chapter 2 trial, when Kokichi and Kirumi suggest that the killing game is being shown to the people outside, Monokuma says that the 13 remaining students are the only ones left in the world. [[spoiler:Subverted in that this is only true within the TrumanShowPlot]].
90* In ''VisualNovel/IkemenSengoku'', Mitsuhide pretends to be so madly in love with the female main character on his route that he can't bear to leave her side for a moment when the real reason he won't leave her side is to prevent her from telling others about his plans to betray his lord Nobunaga. At least, that's what he leads the MC to believe; the ''real'' reason he won't leave her side is that he really has fallen madly in love with her but can't explain to her that he's actually planning to be a FakeDefector and has to keep her under constant surveillance so that the enemies he's pretending to ally with won't decide to kill her for [[HeKnowsTooMuch knowing too much]]. He even lavishes her with sweet words and professions of love, knowing that his reputation as a two-faced ConsummateLiar will make her interpret them as mocking taunts instead of the painfully sincere love confessions they really are.
91* ''VisualNovel/SpiritHunterDeathMarkII'': [[spoiler:In Chapter 6, “Michiho” decides to jokingly “pretend” she is [[BigBad the Departed]] and that she is crazily in love with Kazuo to scare him before “admitting” it was a prank.]]
92[[/folder]]
93
94[[folder:Web Animation]]
95* An offscreen example was mentioned in ''WebAnimation/TheFrolloShow'' during the events of episode 16. When Wilford Brimley [[spoiler: becomes TheStarscream to the remaining members of Los no Frollos and reveals his own evil plans]], [[WebVideo/HitlerRants Hitler]] admits that Wilford told him about it, but he [[spoiler: dismissed his ramblings as mere "old man talk"]].
96* ''WebAnimation/{{HFIL}}'': In "Frognapped", when Cell asks where Raditz has been, he says he was [[spoiler:banging Dodoria]]. Cell thinks he just made that up to annoy him.
97[[/folder]]
98
99[[folder:Webcomics]]
100* ''Webcomic/TheAwakened'':
101-->'''Sue:''' Oh, yeah, and I'm kind of in love with you, but you never seem to notice.
102%%* Used in ''Webcomic/BetweenFailures'' ([[http://betweenfailures.net/archives/archive/979-he-lies Page 979]]), although not perfectly.
103* Pulled twice in ''Webcomic/CaptainSNES''. Both comics have "The Best Lie" in the title (with the first following with "is the Truth"). [[http://www.captainsnes.com/2005/05/28/485-the-best-lie-is-the-truth/ The first time]], Alex convinces [[VideoGame/{{Lufia}} Daos]] that he put up a powerful mental shield so that Daos could not see his greatest fear, when, actually, his greatest fear (Evil Otto from ''VideoGame/{{Berzerk}}'') looked like something that Daos didn't consider remotely terrifying (a blinking smiley face.) [[http://www.captainsnes.com/2008/09/16/569-the-best-lie/ The second]], [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Bass]], after having already bluffed Amon into believing that he could achieve great power in the desert, admits (in a nervous tone) that he lied previously and was trying to trick Amon.
104-->'''Bass:''' In fact, I'm doing it right now!
105* In ''Webcomic/CollegeRoomiesFromHell'', Blue tells Vernon directly that she's there to distract him and his scientists while the others infiltrate his base. In fact, Vernon is GenreSavvy enough to take her at her word, but pretend not to.
106* Invoked in ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}'', Summer Update 22:
107-->'''[=ChrlsNChrg=]:''' There's an interesting principle at work, here.\
108If I tell them what happened, freely, then they won't believe it.\
109But if I charge them what the information is worth, then they'll buy it.\
110'''[=LordHamster=]:''' In both senses.
111* In ''Webcomic/GetMedieval'', mob boss Broat [[http://get-medieval.livejournal.com/177949.html cheerfully informs]] his legal business associates that he has to go hire mob hitmen.
112-->'''Voes:''' Your wife hates when you do that.\
113'''Broat:''' And they never suspect a thing.
114%%* Early in ''Webcomic/AGirlAndHerFed'', Hope uses this to [[http://agirlandherfed.com/1.137.html deliberately troll]] Speedy.
115* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'': This is how Winsbury and Janet hide their SecretRelationship; as soon as one of their friends expresses [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=935 the first hint of suspicion]], they admit to being together, then tell a highly implausible and self-contradictory tale of how it happened. By the time they've finished, everyone has lost interest and assumed the whole thing is nonsense. Even Bud, their [[ItMakesSenseInContext psychic crab chaperone]], seems to have dismissed their relationship as too unlikely.
116* ''Webcomic/LastRes0rt'' has Jigsaw Forte [[http://www.lastres0rt.com/2009/03/ask-a-stupid-question/ pulling this one off:]]
117-->'''Jason:''' Tell me where Daisy went already! You should know!\
118'''Jigsaw:''' Sure, because we all know I'm a mind reader. After this, we're planning a magic act. Think you'd look good in sequins?
119* In ''Webcomic/LeifAndThorn'', Thorn asks Kale why he's in therapy, to which he responds he "killed a bunch of people." Thorn first takes it as a joke, then becomes certain it's a joke when he hears Kale's name and doesn't recognize it. In fact, Kale committed the murders under a different name.
120* ''Webcomic/MoringMarkTOHComics'': When another student [[https://www.reddit.com/r/TheOwlHouse/comments/16w7kya/truth/ questions how Luz suddenly has a new sister that looks nothing like her despite having previously claimed to be an only child]], Vee proceeds to tell her entire backstory as a shapshifting demon refuge from another world created by an evil emperor (understandably freaking out Luz) before "admitting" that she's just adopted.
121* In ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'', [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3010 Pintsize gives outlandish answers when asked where he has been.]] Readers who read the previous days' comics will know that the third answer is true, but upon hearing it Marten assumes that Pintsize is still screwing around and just gives up asking. The comic description says that ''all three'' answers were true.
122* ''Webcomic/SamAndFuzzy'': Used [[http://samandfuzzy.com/archive.php?comicID=838 here]].
123* Basic premise of the Comet, the tabloid newspaper for which our MainCharacters work in ''Webcomic/ScandalSheet'' As Detweiler, the editor-in-chief, puts it, "We operate on two principles. First, that the most artistic way to lie is by telling the truth so unconvincingly that people are sure you are lying, and second, the best place to hide a needle isn't a haystack -- it's a [[NeedleInANeedleStack big pile of other needles]]." As it turns out, [[spoiler: the Comet actually employs a sasquatch named Phil and regularly gets information from a vampire named Samantha. They consider it their role in life to protect the rare and endangered supernatural beings of the Earth from being discovered and exploited by others. As such, most of the stories in the paper are made-up crap, but some of them are true -- no journalist with any self-respect at all will pursue them, though, since it's well-known that once it's been in the Comet, it can't possibly be correct.]]
124* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'':
125** On the forums, someone once made a joke to the effect "The author'll have to [[spoiler:[[ApocalypseHow blow up the Milky Way]]]] next to top himself." The author responded, "[[AscendedFanon Hey, I should write this stuff down!]]" A year or two later...
126** Kevyn[[spoiler:'s time-clone]] managed to pull one off [[https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2010-07-24 here]] by CryingWolf.
127%%* Aggressively invoked in [[http://shortpacked.com/comic/book-1-brings-back-the-80s/04-roomies/a-49/ this]] ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}'' strip.
128* In ''WebComic/WildeLife'', Oscar's landlady warns him not to be late with the rent, commenting "[[WitchWithACapitalB I'm a real witch]]." Her name is [[Literature/BabaYaga Barbara Yaga]], by the way, and right after Oscar leaves, she transforms her two dogs into human children.
129%%Note on link (in case it goes dead again): Used to be http://www.thewotch.com/?epDate=2003-06-02, but the date actually shown below the comic was 2003-06-19
130* Done accidentally in ''Webcomic/TheWotch'', in [[http://www.thewotch.com/?comic=slumber-party-22 this comic]]. Jason is trying to keep Ivan off the trail and outright lies to him. When Ivan calls his bluff, Jason tells the truth. Then Ivan decides that Jason was lying the ''second'' time, and goes along with what Jason said the ''first'' time when he was outright lying.
131-->'''Jason:''' Wow, I'm more clever than I thought.
132[[/folder]]
133
134[[folder:Web Original]]
135* In ''Literature/MotherOfLearning'', going backwards in time is widely known to be completely and utterly impossible--so when [[http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2961893/16/Mother-of-Learning Taiven asks Zorian how]] [[spoiler:Zach, a third-year student like Zorian, managed to slay a dragon]], he goes ahead and tells her about the GroundhogDayLoop, knowing she won't believe him. [[spoiler:Unfortunately -- or perhaps fortunately -- his sister and his roommate ''do'']].
136* ''Website/NotAlwaysRight'': From ''Not Always Legal'' comes [[https://notalwaysright.com/both-ham-fisted-and-half-aed/151605/ this tale]] of smuggling in post-war Belgium, where some police ask a heavy-set woman what she's sitting on and she responds ''completely'' truthfully...
137* ''Literature/TheSaints'': Jason uses this while explaining why he needs a shopping cart full of [[BatterUp baseball bats]], [[PowerfulPick pickaxes]], knives, [[ChainPain bike chains]], and an axe.
138* ''Literature/{{TOT}}'': When Mark first meets Maximus Slade, Slade very dryly tells him he's a werewolf who's come to eat his friends. After Slade kills two people in front of him, Mark realizes that he wasn't lying at all.
139* [[Website/SCPFoundation SCP]]-[[http://www.scpwiki.com/scp-5721 5721]] is a (fictional) [[ReadTheFinePrint paragraph within the Terms of Service]] for the messaging software Discord that [[SoldHisSoulForADonut signs over the users' souls]] to the [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greco-Roman goddess Eris]], allowing her to [[VampiricDraining drain]] users' LifeEnergy [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly as a substitute for actual worship]]. "The majority of users who read the clause were found to have assumed it was a joke, as Discord is known for its humorous loading screens."
140[[/folder]]
141
142[[folder:Web Videos]]
143* ''WebVideo/TableFlip'': During the first round of One Night Ultimate Werewolf, [[spoiler:Arin]] at one point mockingly declares that "I'm just going to throw the game here: ''I'm'' the werewolf." [[spoiler:It doesn't work.]]
144[[/folder]]
145
146[[folder:Real Life]]
147* As a young man, UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar (future ruler of Rome) was captured by pirates and held for ransom, which was a common tactic at the time. Apparently, Caesar was so charismatic that the pirates took a liking to him, and laughed when he joked that once he was released, he would ''definitely'' raise a naval task force, come back, and crucify them all. Once the ransom was paid, Caesar went back to Rome, raised a naval task force, came back, and crucified them all.
148* In the French royal court of 1589, a monk named Jacques Clément requested to meet the (very unpopular) king Henry III, under the pretext of giving him a secret message. When interrogated by the guards about his intention (there were lots of rumours about an imminent assassination attempt against the king), he joked that he was indeed "a great killer". Once alone with Henry III, he stabbed him in the groin, and the king died the next day.
149* When one of UsefulNotes/HernanCortez's lieutenants, Cristóbal de Olid, went rogue, Cortés sent an agent, Francisco de las Casas, to assassinate him. By an epic strike of bad luck, De las Casas ended up captured by Olid, who had him as a VIP hostage in an attempt to convince him to join the Olidians. De las Casas pretended to think about it, and in midst of the good mood, he joked to Olid that he might take some chance to follow his orders and kill him. Of course, this is exactly what he did.
150* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Wilkinson General James Wilkinson]], head of the US Army under Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison, was long suspected of being in the pay of the Spanish crown -- so much so that the General would jovially agree that he was a "Spanish pensioner" at social gatherings. Turns out, he ''was''.
151* When Philippe Petit was going through the airport to get to New York for his famous tight-roping between the Twin Towers, a security officer naturally asked him what all the equipment was for. He told him. The officer laughed and let him through.
152* In UsefulNotes/RichardFeynman's autobiography, ''Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!'', Feynman tells of a fraternity prank where a door was stolen. He was the one who stole it, but even a year after it happened they still had no idea who had stolen it. He had confessed, but everyone just remembered that all the fraternity members had denied it. ("Yeah, ''I'' stole the door." "Cut it out, Feynman, this is ''serious!''")
153** Additionally, he relates the story of how he got into a drunken brawl in a night club, with a black eye to prove it. When he truthfully explained where he got it, nobody believed him.
154* Allegedly, famed Prohibition agent [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izzy_Einstein Izzy Einstein]] was fond of using this trope to gain entrance to speakeasies, beseeching the guy on the door to let him in, as he was "a very thirsty Prohibition agent".
155* Once, a taxi driver asked a city newcomer checking out of a hotel if he had a dead body inside his heavy bag. The newcomer matter-of-factly answered yes, and the taxi driver laughed. The newcomer was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Dahmer Jeffrey Dahmer]].
156* One of the Cambridge Five would regularly claim to be a KGB agent.
157* Creator/JimmySavile was an English presenter and philanthropist who abused his position to groom children for sex. This wasn't confirmed or made public until after his death, but during his life he frequently made "jokes" that in hindsight were basically him admitting to it. Like in response to the question, "What are you doing these days?" he'd respond, "Anybody I can get me hands on," or that he was "feared in every girls' school in this country," that his "case came up next week." As Ian Hislop put it, "It's a brilliant disguise: you dress up as a paedophile."
158* UsefulNotes/NewJersey Governor Chris Christie was asked in a press conference if he had anything to do with the lane closures on the perpetually congested George Washington bridge. He joked that you might not have noticed, but he was the one setting up the traffic cones. A month later, his office was implicated in closing lanes on the George Washington Bridge to punish a mayor who didn't endorse him.
159* Corrie Ten Boom's book ''The Hiding Place'' relates an incident in which her niece, who had been taught to always tell the truth no matter what, was questioned by Nazis searching for her brothers (who were hiding in a cellar under a trapdoor, covered by a rug, beneath the kitchen table). She told them that her brothers were "under the table" and then burst out laughing when they lifted the tablecloth to look.
160
161[[/folder]]

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