As college sophomores, a friend and I used to make stuff up about people almost as a challenge: how ridiculous of a claim could we make about a classmate and still get people to believe us.

One guy name Greg, we said, was missing some of his private parts. My roommate Andrew, his last name was supposedly German for “groin.” My friend and co-conspirator, a rail-thin 6-footer, used to weigh near 300-pounds, we claimed (which explained his extra elbow, knee, and neck skin).