(1) the less-than-honest but tried-and-true method used by married spouses for dealing with an indiscretion; a more
sophisticated version of "
thinking out loud"
(2) the time-honored technique used by
politicians, lawyers and publicists to add sunshine to a murky situation or deflect attention
(3) a rhetorical device employed by men to cover a wide range of pre- and post-romantic interludes
(4) the immediate and often creative explanation to something you have no clue about
Etymology - derived from the David Mamet comedy, State and Main (2000); William H. Macy character Walt Price: It's not a lie. It's a gift for fiction.”
Mark Antony - “Those are some crazy pheromones on your perfumed sails. Mrs. Philopator, you're trying to seduce me.”
Cleopatra (in her best fiction on the fly) – “Don’t be silly sweetie. It’s just an old Ptolemaic dynasty tradition. Your
imagination is more fertile than the Nile River. ”
“Damn you and your Fiction on the Fly. You WERE checking that girl out. It had
nothing to do with your claims about Tim Gunn and loving fashion."
“I’m sorry baby. It just slipped. Maybe we can use a safe word next time.” (most overheard--and overused--fiction on the fly)
“Yes. I googled my tweet and discovered that my linkedin got facebooked. How many pieces of
social networking flair are you wearing today? “
"That Governor Sanford needs to work on both his TMI and Fiction on the Fly. Damn."