IdiomDaily Life
English
Englishtell tall tales
Meaning: To tell exaggerated or untrue stories.
Example: “Grandpa loves to tell tall tales about the bear he once wrestled.”
Origin: "Tall" had meant lofty or grandiloquent since the early 1600s, and 19th-century Americans spoke of "tall talk" and "tall stories" for boastful exaggeration. "Tall tale" became the usual form in the early 1900s, and also names a genre of American frontier folklore.
Other ways to say this
French: Raconter des salades Literally: To tell salads
Russian: Не вешай лапшу на уши (Ne veshay lapshu na ushi) Literally: Don't hang noodles on my ears
Latvian: Pūst pīlītes Literally: To blow little ducks
Romanian: A umbla cu cioara vopsită Literally: To go around with a painted crow- Russian: пудрить мозги (pudrit' mozgi) Literally: To powder the brains
- English: pull the wool over someone's eyes
- French: Jeter de la poudre aux yeux Literally: To throw powder in the eyes
More English idioms
- navel-gaze To be absorbed in oneself and one's own concerns to an excessive degree.
- be a pain in the neck To be very annoying.
- have one's cake and eat it too To want two things that cannot both be had.
- muddy the waters To make a situation confusing, often on purpose.
- be bone idle To be extremely lazy.
- like pulling teeth Extremely difficult, especially when trying to get someone to cooperate.
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- He covers me with his wings, and bites me with his bill. A protector may simultaneously harm you through the very closeness required to defend you.
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