Buzz
When a child with chocolate all over his face insists to his mother that he didn't swipe his brother’s candy bar, is he telling a bald-faced or bold-faced fib?
There's often confusion about whether to use 'bald' or 'bold' in this saying. But worry no more, the correct answer is: both are perfectly acceptable.
Most sources agree that the original phrase, coined in the late 1600s, was actually a barefaced lie. Back then, 'bare' meant brazen or bold. During that period, nearly all men had facial hair, and being clean-shaven, or barefaced, was considered quite daring, even audacious. Over time, the term for 'hairless' shifted from bare to bald, and the phrase for a blatant falsehood followed suit.
Bold-faced is now widely accepted as well, since bold holds the same meaning as bare once did. Additionally, it can technically refer to a falsehood printed in a bold typeface. The simplest way to navigate through this maze of idioms is, of course, to always tell the truth.
