Practical joking, lying, and denying

Abstract Joking and lying are commonly contrasted: it is often stated that a speaker cannot be joking and lying at the same time. However, this outlook disregards the possibility of practical jokes, in which a target is temporarily deceived before the joke is revealed. The first aim of this paper is to argue that practical jokes can involve lies. Its second aim is to show that this result has implications for research on the nature and ethics of lying and on commitment, retraction, and deniability.