Othello error in practice. The phrase Othello error was first used in the book "Telling Lies" by Paul Ekman in 1985. The name was coined from Shakespeare's play "Othello", which provides an "excellent and famous example" of what can happen when fear and distress upon confrontation do not signal deception. In Shakespeare's "Othello", Othello falsely believes that his wife, Desdemona, has been cheating on him with another man. There, upon confronting his wife, Desdemona, about her love for another, she cries and denies, all the while aware that her mien will be taken as evidence of guilt by her jealous husband. Seeing
Othello (character) Othello kills his wife out of jealousy by strangling her, only to realize that his wife was faithful after Emilia reveals the truth, at which point he commits suicide. "Othello" has its source in the 1565 tale "Un Capitano Moro" from "Gli Hecatommithi" by Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio. While no English translation of Cinthio was available in Shakespeare's lifetime, it is probable that Shakespeare knew both the Italian original and Gabriel Chappuy's 1584 French translation. Cinthio's tale may have been based on an actual incident occurring in Venice about 1508. It also resembles an incident described in the earlier tale