All Comments on 'A Turn of the Word (750 Word Story)'

The old gotcha question. Well played. I wonder if it stands up in Court? That's what's wrong with a 750 word limit - it's limiting. What happened?

Problem for me with this (and the Asimov story) is that technically the collective offence being true means the individual ones are true as well. And really, the lie detector works on emotional reactions, so she should've been able to beat the system twice if she got past the first one. Cute idea, though.

story at all just half of one

Or isn’t exclusive. Xor is the exclusive or. :D

Hahaha.

Gotcha!

Nice sad humorous story.

I don't care to know what the sleazy cheating wife-lawyer's excuses are.

For me, the Boink says it all.

Well done njlauren.

But I read this because Lauren wrote it, and I thought it was clever and a bit tongue-in-cheek. Not great, but still short and sweet. Thanks for writing it, and I also enjoy reading your comments.

Yes.. even marks don’t matter Ina 750 word story…. Zero

Like the story and think that you are right, there is more available here, although there is just enough of an image to allow the reader the opportunity to fill in the rest.

Thank you.

It seems to me that the polygraph is not so precisely calibrated for the accuracy of the wording of the questions asked. Any mention of sex with these characters would be recognized as a lie if the answer was incorrect.

I liked it short and to the point. Definitely time to let her go and sue the company.

Get an editor.

We know a little why she does. (Partner at an early age). Thanks for the Story. SK742

Okay, I'll grant you literary license, but you DO know that's not how polygraphs work, right? AFTER the examination is complete, the examiner looks at ALL the results, compares the results of the presumably true answers to the results of the answers in question.

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You could have achieved the same result more accurately by having her appear smug through the entire exam until she gets hit with the ultimate question.

As I started to read the story my mind went back to Henry the waiter and I thought... "No way!" When I saw your note at the end I smiled and thought "yes, way!"

A great 750 word story. Good job. Henry! 😁

Let me go on record stating that whoever came up with this horrible concept of a '750 word project' should be shot. As many times as it takes........

As Bill taught us, "it depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is"

I liked it!

Would love to read a story built on this premise. Come on writers take this one on .

i would like to know the rest of the story so write a 750 word to end the story.

I liked it. Having also just done a 750-word story, I know it's a challenge to pick your moments to share. Ten years together, a shorter downturn in affections, suspicions, and author has to convey "enough" to tell a story.

Nice try 😎

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FYI….real polygraph examinations have only yes or no questions. So asking things like what’s your address or favorite food don’t happen — rather, any question would be “Do you live at 3454 MacArthur Court“, or is “Cheez Wiz on Spam your favorite food” 🤗

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Also….the question(s) about who she had sex with should have been one at a time. “Have you had sex with Steve?”, and not “with Steve, Jerry, or George”. But then, that would eliminate your word twist hook 😱

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OK…enough with the nits….enjoyed the flash tale! Guy successfully tripped her up, and kept his man card!

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4 ****

More dastardly lawyers.

Very good.

I liked the twist.

5 Stars. Who need 10,000 words?

Now finish the story and tell us how he btb to the ground

Leaves us wanting more: if she loves hubby, why cheat and why want hubby back home?

Second good short today - 5* (Maybe someday this could be expanded to a whole story...)

Nice try, but her answer was probably a Boink with the earlier ‘or’ version of the question. It is super unlikely in the various encounters that she was airtight from the beginning to the end of each session. It is much more likely that DP sessions started well after her one-on-one trysts with each colleague … and eventually the four of them got comfortable with ‘airtight!’

Is this a terrible story? YES. BOINK BOINK BOINK

Saw it coming, but delivered in a short form, it did not matter.

5*

Appreciate the comments. I am aware of how polygraphs work and as far as I know they don't go 'boink'. I also took license with how answers work, it would be yes or no.

Polygraphs work off of physiological changes in the body when the person tells a lie ( respiration, pulse,et Al). The reason it isn't allowed in court is bc ppl can fool a polygraph and their mindset is what causes it. My thought was Jennifer, being a lawyer, had worked out in her head how to answer questions without stumbling,knowing her own mindset ( and folks, again, this is a work of fiction and I am not an expert on polygraphs).

So in her head when asked the question about having sex w the partners and asked as an or, she created the subterfuge to herself that it was all or none and let her beat it; remember it is her emotions. And maybe it wasn't the and that best her, maybe getting a curve thrown caused her to lose it or the and emotionally added up...

After all, human beings can rationalize a lot of things in ways that defy logic.

hey stupid they only ask yes or no question . not that bullshit you tried to pull.

Kinda fun.

I think they would have asked about the guys one at a time, because if she were boinking just one there is a chance she can say no and maybe squeeze by.

Just an FYI...all answers to a lie detector examination are 'YES' or 'NO'. No extraneous comments or wording. An examiner will either ask again or reword the question. Only a 3. Too predictable.

Fun, quick read. Thanks! Love your writing.

Good story for what it was, but this story deserves expansion.

good 750 story, thanks

There is one serious flaw in this story. One would would have find a lawyer who feels guilty about telling a lie. That's why polygraphs are not admissible in court; judges know there is no way lawyers and salesmen would ever be caught in a lie. They would have a have a conscience first. 😋

Cute!

5

Great flash story! Don't you just love Monday morning wanna be critics!

Pretty good.

Ha! Clever man! Good story, well written. I’m constantly amazed how many really good 750 word stories have been posted, thanks for posting another winner.

She was apparently getting all the sex she needed from the partners so why does she care about whether her husband stays or leaves?? Never makes any sense to me why cheating wives are devastated or collapse when their husbands find out about their cheating and leave them. Good 750 word story.

If you think you need a polygraph to find out if she's cheating, you should have already called a lawyer.

Hard to give a 750 word story a 5 but I considered it.

Unique, creative, surprise ending and fairly well written. Might want to work on your sentence structure.

Enjoyed it.

good story. Quick and to the point

To njlauren- just read your story 'February oh February' per your suggestion, on storiesonline. PLEASE, that one NEEDS to be published here; rewrite it, edit it, do whatever it takes to be acceptable to Lit (strange that violence in a satirical erotic fictional story would do that) but DO IT. Just don't do it in a 750 word fashion. :)

Re: Anon

About 4 below me, go back and reread the story, he did consult and attorney first.

As one who owns and has read most of Asimov's books and writings I can say the story described is 'Truth To Tell/The Man Who Never Told A Lie'. Signed: BTW

Enjoyed the story, was a quick read. Thanks for your writing.

guy acts like a jackass

Funny story, No sense in commenting about brevity or her rotten behavior regardless of an affair.

I liked this story, would love to see a longer version.

Or……….depends upon the meaning of ‘HAVING’. R.H.

Good story. Enjoyed the set up and the results. Good writing

Not a lover for these type of stories (750 words), but this one works. As commented below, I'd love to see a slightly longer version- why & how the cheating started & what happened after the polygraph test. 4 stars Bob

Great story.

Good twist. Love lawyer stories. Short ones never get credit. SK742

Good effort, this worked well for me.

JR

Excellent short story and it proves that words can be used against a spouse IF the right questions are not asked. In my case it was a simple one that at the time I never thought of rephrasing when my now ex-wife was 'shopping' for 3 hours. She told me that she was shopping however I later discovered that she was shopping about 15 minutes and the other 2 & 3/4 hours she was with her lover. However technically she did not lie since I only asked the one question. Just to state a fact she had been known to shop for 3 hours prior to this so her reply was not unusual in a sense of the 'love is blind' stature. ahhh trust falls in deep with love, doesn't it? lol

Hehe. Nicely done. What a tramp going airtight. And obviously for some time.

And. Or. Makes a difference. Nice work. Thank you.

Cute!

Clever man.

I wonder why we all hate lawyers except for ours, then hate them soon again