A: How can I stop my child from telling stories? Marty fibbed that he was going to study at his friend Lucio’s house, when in fact they went to see a movie.

B: Perhaps he will be more honest with you if you do not press him to study hard all the time.

Note: When used as a noun, “fib” means “a small or trivial lie,” and when used as a verb, it means “to tell a trivial and harmless lie.” In use since the 1680s, this word perhaps derived from “fibble-fable,” which means “nonsense.” For example: He laughed when I accused him of fibbing.