The Bard must have known, even back then, that one sex is rather more reliable than the other. According to the survey, the average male tells 1,092 lies every year - doing the maths, that turns out roughly three a day. Apparently the study showed that men are less inclined to feel guilty about there little deflections than their female counterparts - who only tell 728 fibs per annum (that's twice a day).

Market researchers OnePoll spoke to 3,000 adults for the survey ahead of the launch of the revamped Who am I? gallery at the London Science Museum. It aims to make sense of brain science, genetics and human behaviour. Surprise, surprise, men's main untruths were related to their drinking habits, while the perennially useful ‘nothing's wrong, I'm fine' came out on top for the ladies.

Mums bore the brunt of lies, being the most lied to recipient at 20 to 25 percent, while ten percent said they most often deceived their partners.‘Lying may seem to be an unavoidable part of human nature but it's an important part of social interaction,' said Katie Maggs, associate medical curator at the Science Museum, which commissioned the study. ‘The jury is still out as to whether human quirks such as lying are the result of our genes, evolution or our upbringing.'

The proof was in the pudding though, the clincher being 82 percent of females questioned said telling a lie ate away at their conscience, while only 70 percent of men confessed to pangs of guilt. Hmmm... looks like we're going to have to use our female intuition to tell if his pants are on fire then, as he may not allow it to be so obvious!

Here are the top 10 lies men and women tell their partners:

Men

1. I didn't have that much to drink

2. Nothing's wrong, I'm fine

3. I had no [phone] signal

4. It wasn't that expensive

5. I'm on my way

6. I'm stuck in traffic

7. No, your bum doesn't look big in that

8. Sorry, I missed your call

9. You've lost weight

10. It's just what I've always wanted

Women

1. Nothing's wrong, I'm fine

2. I don't know where it is, I haven't touched it

3. It wasn't that expensive

4. I didn't have that much to drink

5. I've got a headache

6. It was on sale

7. I'm on my way

8. Oh, I've had this for ages

9. No, I didn't throw it away

10. It's just what I've always wanted

Bella Beauty Magazine #19