blow smoke en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
By shortening of the full expression blow smoke up someone's ass, deemed less vulgar.
Meanings
-
To speak with a lack of credibility, sense, purpose, or truth; to speak nonsense.
Why don't we liberate these United States? / We're the ones who need it the most / You think I'm blowing smoke? Boys, it ain't no joke / I make twenty trips a year from coast to coast
2005, Merle Haggard, “America First”, in Chicago Wind:Are these "statistics" they cite verifiable, or are they just blowing smoke, trying to scare people?
Joe [Klein] calls my [Benjamin] Netanyahu interview "more depressing than alarming, since you've got to figure that the new Israeli prime minister is mostly blowing smoke."
2009 April 2, Jeffrey Goldberg, quoting Joe Klein, “Joe Klein on Netanyahu”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 19 Aug 2010:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| blows smoke | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| blew smoke | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| blown smoke | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| blowing smoke | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic |
Relateds
pass the bottle of smoke · Tobacco smoke enema · smoke blower · blow hot air · smoke and mirrors
Synonyms
blow smoke up someone's ass · nonsense · deceive
Translations (15)
fr parler pour ne rien dire (idiomatic) · bg хвърлям прах в очите (idiomatic) · bg говоря празни приказки (idiomatic) · fi jauhaa (idiomatic) · fi puhua joutavia (idiomatic) · pl wciskać kit (idiomatic) · es meter floro (idiomatic) · it parlare a vanvera (idiomatic) · es florear (idiomatic) · pl wcisnąć kit (idiomatic) · fi jaaritella (idiomatic) · fi höpöttää (idiomatic) · ca marejar la perdiu (idiomatic) · el ρίχνω στάχτη στα μάτια (idiomatic) · bg хвърля прах в очите (idiomatic)