do with mirrors
- idiom
:
ilusión
- Don't trust his explanations; they're just do with mirrors to distract you from the real issue.
Examples
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The company's impressive profits turned out to be do with mirrors, hiding their debt.
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The politician's sudden change of heart seemed like do with mirrors to everyone.
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That explanation seems to do with mirrors!
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His plan to solve the issue really does with mirrors.
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The magician's tricks were all do with mirrors, creating an illusion of reality.
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Her story about winning the lottery sounded like do with mirrors to me, as it lacked any real evidence.
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The CEO's justification for the layoffs felt like do with mirrors, obscuring the company's financial troubles.
Synonyms
53
7.7
A clever trick to deceive someone
19
7.4
Actions that hide the truth by making things look better
9
8.1
Words or actions that trick people by seeming magical
6
4.3
A trick that makes something look like real magic
4
7.8
To make someone believe something that is not true
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal parts ('do' + 'with' + 'mirrors') can suggest 'achieve something using mirrors', which hints at illusion, but the leap to 'trickery or deceptive explanation' is a metaphorical/idiomatic extension that is not fully predictable. Because the expression relies on cultural/pragmatic knowledge of mirrors as tools of illusion and the 'do with' construction is idiomatic, a B1 learner who knows the words would only partially infer the intended meaning without prior exposure.
Etymology
The phrase do with mirrors may come from the image of using mirrors to make something look different, a small trick that hides what is real. So when people call something do with mirrors, they mean it is 'achieved by trickery' or is a clever, misleading show.