Jiminy Cricket and the eponymous hero of the 1940 Disney film Pinocchio. Photograph: Allstar/Disney/Sportsphoto
Why do so many politicians find it necessary to lie to their electorates?
To tell their voters what they wish to hear.
Edward Black, Church Point, NSW, Australia
• It’s really a coping mechanism. Most of the time, they’re also lying to themselves, pretending that they’re not after just status and power.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia
• It works.
Pat Phillips, Adelaide, South Australia
• Politicians lie because the truth hurts.
Bruce Cohen, Worcester, Massachusetts, US
• Because we want them to – indeed, we demand it.
Jake Sigg, San Francisco, California, US
• Of course, it’s no longer necessary in our post-truth society.
John Benseman, Auckland, New Zealand
• It’s the only sure way to fulfil their expectations!
Ted Kavanagh, Adelaide, South Australia
• To keep their noses in front.
Sunil Bajaria, Bromley, UK
• They need to keep practising, in case they get re-elected.
Adrian Cooper, Queens Park, NSW, Australia
Only one gets on the poster
Just what distinguishes an outlaw from a scofflaw?
An outlaw historically was one who had committed a felony: a scofflaw generally has committed a misdemeanour.
Philip Stigger,
Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
• The fact that an outlaw can scoff at a scofflaw, but a scofflaw can’t out an outlaw.
Jennifer Horat, Lengwil, Switzerland
• Scofflaws defy every rule in the book – while outlaws have the book thrown at them.
David Tucker, Halle, Germany
• Being outside the law, as opposed to disrespecting it.
Charlie Bamforth, Davis, California, US
• “Wanted, Dead or Alive”.
R M Fransson, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, US
• You used to be able to shoot an outlaw but you cannot shoot a scofflaw, at least legally.
Greg McCarry, Sydney, Australia
• Let’s start with couture: outlaws favour masks or hoodies whereas scofflaws, like liars, always go bare-faced.
Terence Rowell, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
• An outlaw snatches, a scofflaw scotches.
Richard Orlando, Westmount, Canada, Quebec
The Queen and I were a hit
Which theatre performance, in any age, would you choose to see?
The 1968 West End production of Hair. London rocked and so did it.
Jenefer Warwick James, Paddington, NSW, Australia
• Helen Mirren in The Queen. And I did!
Doreen Forney, Pownal, Vermont, US
• Oedipus Tyrannus at the Theatre of Dionysus in ancient Athens (with an electronic translation scrolling below the footlamps).
Bill Britton, Bayville, New York, US
• When I was a teen, my friends and I swooned over William Shatner at the Stratford (Ontario) Shakespearean Festival. Any performance he gave in the early 50s would suit me fine: back then, I was awash in hormones and he was smokin’ hot.
Donna Samoyloff, Toronto, Canada
Any answers?
Some people just don’t get it. Why?
John Boyle, Bentleigh, Victoria, Australia
Where are you when you are beside yourself?
Joan Dawson, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Send answers to weekly.nandq@theguardian.com or Guardian Weekly, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU, UK
