what is the original phrase for liar liar pants on fire?

At work we call it

LLPOF –

what would have been on fire before pants . . . .

Knickers? pantaloons? kilts? loincloths?

Liar Sayings

The original and I am 63 is liar liar pants on fire hanging from a telephone wire. At least that is what we all said when I as young.

Seriously I was just having this debate w/my g/f and her sister (we were on a long road trip). I think that it is “Liar, Liar pants on fire, nose as long as a telephone wire.” She and her sister think that it is “Liar, Liar pants on fire, hang you from a telephone wire.” I told her that it didn’t make sense. The nose as long as a telephone wire could be derived from Pinocchio because when he lied his nose grew… I don’t know there seems to be a lot of support for each of these from people that I asked. I still think mine is better.

“Liar, liar, pants on fire. Your nose is longer than a telephone wire!”

I believe that “liar liar, pants on fire” derived from a true event. Someone was smoking a cigarette who wasn’t suppose to, and put it in their pocket (to hide the cigarette) when spotted. When the person that noticed that person smoking approached them, they noticed their pants were on fire. Hence the saying “liar liar, pants on fire.”

When I was a kid, it went this way:

Liar, liar, pants on fire, hang them up on telephone wire. (Said to a lying child)”

This is a “derisive rhyme” used by children. “Tradition teaches the child to use sayings in certain situations to make a point emphatically. Such sayings can provide a quick and easy response to the taunt of another child, or a powerful demonstration of the child’s stand. The sayings contain a collective wisdom that exerts a certain amount of pressure on children. In other cases, sayings offer a form of play with words; children use the traditional structure of such sayings to play with the rhythm, rhyme, and meaning of words to draw attention to themselves.”

From “American Children’s Folklore: A Book of Rhymes, Games, Jokes, Stories, Secret Languages, Beliefs and Camp Legends for Parents, Grandparents, Teachers, Counselors and All Adults Who Were Once Children” by Simon J. Bronner (August House Inc., Little Rock, Ark., 1988).

“Liar, Liar, pants on fire, hanging from a telephone wire!” LOL that’s all I know.

Hooray?