porky
7
9.3
A small lie told to avoid trouble
- noun
- /ˈpɔːki/
- Slang
:
mentirita
- Oh, boy, I think he told a porky.
Examples
-
Were you telling porky pies?
-
When he said he ran a marathon last weekend, I knew it was just a porky.
-
It's all very curious, especially given we know Markle's track record in terms of telling little porky pies in interviews.
-
Who's gonna believe a bunch of jumped-up, porky-telling little schoolgirls over me?
-
She often tells a porky to make her stories more interesting.
-
Everyone laughed when he admitted his last excuse was just a little porky.
Synonyms
9.9
A small harmless lie told to amuse or avoid trouble
is an informal British slang term for a small harmless lie
Antonyms
How Serious
bald-faced lie
3
5.4
- Informal
3
5.4
deception
163
3.9
163
3.9
lie
∞
2.7
∞
2.7
porky
7
9.3
- Slang
7
9.3
white lie
18
3.4
- Informal
18
3.4
Surface Forms
Etymology
Porky meaning 'a lie' comes from British rhyming slang porky pies, which rhymes with 'lies', and the phrase was later shortened to porky. So a porky is a small or harmless 'lie'.