tall tale
23
4.0
- noun
- /tɔl teɪl/
- Literature
- During the campfire, the old man shared tall tales of his adventures that sounded almost unbelievable.
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Watch on YouTubeWhen other tramp printers shared tall tales, Norths were taller, earning him the nickname Astoria Bill.
- When other tramp printers shared tall tales, Norths were taller, earning him the nickname Astoria Bill.
Examples
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You sure spin some tall tales.
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I've never heard such tall tales!
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Seems you like to read tall tales.
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I have heard tall tales.
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Quite a tall tale, but I think he was on to something.
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So this is a tall tale.
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" To tell you something different would be telling you a tall tale," he said.
Academic text (2017) -
Just a bunch of tall tales that my Pa made up!
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So you've been telling some tall tales, huh?
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Such tall tales captured the imaginations of the curious for some months.
Fiction book (1994)
Synonyms
97
2.0
A made-up story or statement that is not true
40
3.4
A made-up story told to hide the truth or deceive people
36
4.9
A false story told to trick or impress people
29
5.1
A false story someone tells, often small and harmless
27
4.6
A made-up story used to avoid blame or trick people
20
7.2
A long story that is probably not true
17
7.5
A lie told to avoid trouble
7
4.6
A very exciting tale that is often not true
3
7.2
A false story people tell to hide the real reason
1
5.5
A made up story told to hide the truth
1
7.3
A made-up tale that is hard to believe
A made-up story told in a big, exciting way to amuse people
A false story made to hide the truth
A silly story that is clearly false and hard to believe
Antonyms
How Exaggerated
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an exaggerated, hard-to-believe story' is related to the constituents 'tall' + 'tale' via a metaphorical extension of 'tall' (i.e. 'big' or 'exaggerated'), so a learner might infer something like an unlikely story but not the precise idiomatic nuance. Because the figurative use of 'tall' is not a direct, literal composition and may not be obvious to all B1 learners without exposure, this item is best classified as partially transparent.
Etymology
The noun tall tale comes from the picture of a tall story that has been stretched so much it seems too big to be true. So a tall tale means 'a story made bigger than the truth' and is used for fun stories that people find hard to believe.