to blow smoke
11
9.0
- phrasal verb
- /bloʊ smoʊk/
- Informal
:
vender humo
- I'm trying to establish whether the GHCN is telling the truth or blowing smoke, not whether people care about early or late adjustments.
- just blowing smoke
- stop blowing smoke
- blow smoke up my ass
And I tell you this not to blow smoke up your ass.
- And I tell you this not to blow smoke up your ass.
- Everyone's just blowing smoke up your ass and you're trying to stay down to earth, hippie, right?
- Like I said, he's very easily influenced and there was too much of people blowing smoke up his arse, if I'm being honest.
- And I'm not, I don't blow smoke up my own backside when I've played well and I don't, you know, I know.
- OK, first of all, we've talked about Honey previously and, and I've installed this browser and I'm not, I'm not blowing smoke up your ass.
- But it was over a week of of working without dissatisfaction or or or the security of knowing that I wasn't just doing this to blow smoke.
- And I was a great fan as a result of which Dodge when I tour managed them, I basically blew smoke and I kissed arse and it was jump how high.
- You know, I don't want to sound like I'm blowing smoke up beyond rear end, but I'm I could lie, you know, I was a pretty good liar.
Examples
-
I don't know whether you really believe this, or are simply blowing smoke.
Blog text (8) -
Without mentioning how taxes are assessed, you are quite simply "blowing smoke."
Blog text (9) -
All of those who keep saying that we need "more choice" are blowing smoke.
Blog text (22) -
All I see you doing is blowing smoke.
Blog text (24) -
We were not blowing smoke about our new show.
Blog text (9) -
You should go to a website that has some facts and not one that blows smoke up your butt.
Blog text (30) -
Carl isn't just blowing smoke to get a contract, general.
-
Is that true, or is that Time Warner just blowing smoke?
Blog text (22) -
4:36, nobody said it was "perfectly reasonable"; you're just blowing smoke to cover the fact that you completely botched your comment.
Blog text (26) -
The salesperson was just blowing smoke when she claimed the product could change your life.
Synonyms
∞
1.3
To say something that is not true to trick someone
270
3.9
To make someone believe something that is not true to get an advantage
217
4.8
To pretend you know something when you do not
87
3.9
Make someone believe something that is not true
71
6.9
Give a false story about someone or something to trick people
48
6.3
Make someone believe something that is not true
44
7.3
To make documents or facts not true to deceive people
23
8.0
To make something sound better to hide problems
14
8.9
To trick someone by using false words or charm
11
7.5
To change numbers or facts dishonestly to hide the truth
10
8.4
To talk in a way that is not honest to trick someone
3
5.9
To say something that is not exactly what happened to make it look better
3
6.0
Pretend to be a person or website online to trick people
2
4.5
To trick people into believing something false
1
9.5
To trick someone by using clever talk
1
9.6
To try to trick someone by saying things that are not true
1
9.6
Say things that are not true to trick others
1
8.1
To trick someone who trusts you by hiding your real plans to get something for yourself
To try to trick someone by speaking nonsense
To tell a story in a way that makes what happened sound bigger or not true
To invent a story or excuse that is not true
To say lies or nonsense to trick someone
To say false or exaggerated things to make others believe you
Antonyms
How Misleading
∞
1.3
270
3.9
87
3.9
- Informal
11
9.0
258
3.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The idea of 'blow smoke' is metaphorically linked to the literal image of producing smoke that obscures or creates a smokescreen, so a learner who knows 'blow' and 'smoke' may infer a sense of creating an illusion or obscuring the truth. However, mapping that image onto the specific sense of deliberately exaggerating or misleading someone is somewhat idiomatic and culturally grounded, so it is not fully predictable for an average B1 learner without prior exposure.
Etymology
Blow smoke comes from a simple image: someone blowing smoke into a room to hide what is really happening. One popular idea is that the smoke makes things hard to see, so to blow smoke came to mean 'to deceive' or 'to say things that hide the truth'.