There's more than one way to say it, believe it or not

HERE, for the benefit of tourists and other students of English, is a list of the varied ways in which the British express disbelief in each other. By constantly using the different expressions, you will soon learn which one expresses the correct amount of incredulity.

Oh?

0h, really?

Well

Well, well

Well, I never

Is that so?

How very interesting

How very, very interesting

Is that a fact?

Who'd have thought it?

You don't say?

Tell me more

Be that as it may

With the greatest respect

That's all very well, but

I beg leave to differ

On the other hand

Is it not possible that . . .?

If you say so

I'll believe you - thousands wouldn't

Well, I'll be . . .

Well, I'll be damned

Well, I'll be hornswoggled

You must be joking

I have my doubts

I begin to wonder

Credibility gap ahead

A likely story

A tall tale

I smell a rat

Says you

Some hope

Pull the other one

Tell that to the Marines

Do you think I was born yesterday?

What do you take me for - a fool?

Think I'm wet behind the ears?

Are you trying to teach your grandmother to suck eggs?

Give us a break

And I'm the Queen of Sheba

Are you taking the Michael?

Are you extracting the urine?

And pigs can fly

I should cocoa

Liar liar, pants on fire]

Same to you, with knobs on

You're talking through your hat

You're putting me on

You're winding me up

Horsefruit, sailor]

Moonshine

Baloney

Fiddlesticks

Stuff and nonsense

Codswallop

What a load of cobblers

Tosh

Balderdash

Mullarkey

Go and take a running jump]

Get lost]

If you believe that, you'll believe anything

I bet you say that to all the girls

That'll be the day

Don't give me that

You're asking me to swallow . . .?

You're going out on a limb here

You would say that, wouldn't you?

Well, I'm not saying you're wrong

Well, stranger things have happened at sea

These are deep waters, Watson

Much work still needs to be done on this theory

While in no way doubting the

essential veracity of what you

say, I am not sure that this is the best moment to announce it, and it might be as well to put it on

the back burner for a while, so I am going to recommend that you stall for time by announcing a public inquiry, or a select committee hearing, or any of the usual delaying tactics, before we ask the media and the public

to swallow a lie of quite this

enormity . . .

Are you not being economical with the truth?

With the actualite?

I can see what you're getting at

I can see what you're trying to say

I can see the point

I see . . .

I understand . . .

I'm sure you're right . . .

Yes, sir . . .

Yes, Minister . . .

Yes, Prime Minister . . .

Of course, Your Majesty . . .