噓憑き: what is it and how is it different from 嘘つき?


While looking at song lyrics I found the word 噓｛うそ｝憑｛つ｝き . What kind of kanji
usage is this, and how does it differ from 噓｛うそ｝つき?

Since 憑 means "haunt, possess" and the song is about ghosts I assumed it was
just a pun/irregular variant writing of 噓｛うそ｝つき with the same meaning. Am I
correct? Is the meaning slightly different?

I couldn't find it in my usual dictionaries, it's not in the list of
[alternate
spellings](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%98%98%E3%81%A4%E3%81%8D), and
yet there seems to be many results when I search for the term on google.
Mostly songs, manga, books, etc. Where does it come from, is it common? Is is
some kind of slang? What should I do when I encounter an unconventional word
like that?




As you guessed, it is an irregular application of 憑き. One of the few words
that are actually used with -憑き is
[狐憑き](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E7%8B%90%E4%BB%98%E3%81%8D/#jn-52989),
meaning _someone/state of being possessed by a ghost of fox_. So by analogy
with this, 嘘憑き may mean _someone haunted by lies_ ; or possibly _someone
addicted to lying_ (interpreting 嘘 in 噓憑き as _to lie_ rather than a lie
itself).




As you guessed, it is an irregular application of 憑き. One of the few words
that are actually used with -憑き is
[狐憑き](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E7%8B%90%E4%BB%98%E3%81%8D/#jn-52989),
meaning _someone/state of being possessed by a ghost of fox_. So by analogy
with this, 嘘憑き may mean _someone haunted by lies_ ; or possibly _someone
addicted to lying_ (interpreting 嘘 in 噓憑き as _to lie_ rather than a lie
itself).

