tall tale en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /tɔːl ˈteɪl/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /tɔl ˈteɪl/ (General-American)
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
From tall (“exaggerated”) + tale.
Meanings
-
(idiomatic) A tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated; also, an account of questionable veracity; a lie, an untruth.
The head-in-sand idea is a threadbare, 2,000-year-old hand-me-down from the Roman naturalist Pliny, who sometimes passed on tall tales.
2020 August 4, Richard Conniff, “They may look goofy, but ostriches are nobody’s fool”, in National Geographic Magazine:He returned on Monday with a tall tale about a 100-pound fish he had caught.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| tall tales | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Relateds
Synonyms
tall story · traveller's tale · fish story · cock-and-bull story · Banbury story of a cock and a bull
Translations (49)
ja ほら話 (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · hu hanta (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · de Märchengeschichte (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · ru враньё (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · hu háryjánoskodás (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · pt história para boi dormir (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · pt conversa fiada (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · cmn 吹牛 (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · sv fantasteri (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · he צ׳יזבט (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · hu lódítás (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · yi באָבע־מעשׂה (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · fi kalajuttu (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · is ýkjusaga (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · de Seemannsgarn (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · mk ба́јка (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · ru ба́йка (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · yue 吹水 (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · fr histoire à dormir debout (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · hu dajkamese (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · hu mese (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · de dick aufgetragene Geschichte (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · fr galéjade (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · de Spinnerei (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · pt conto da carochinha (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · pt história de pescador (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · hu nagyotmondás (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · es cuento chino (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · hi दंतकथा (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · sv rövarhistoria (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · it balla (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · ru небыли́ца (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · pdt Ress (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · ga siollóg (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · hu füllentés (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · it storiellina (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · ga scéal áibhéalach (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · it panzana (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · hu hihetetlen/képtelen történet (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · uk небили́ця (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · de Phantasterei (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · bg лъжа́ (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · nl sterk verhaal (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · ga abhóg (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · ja 駄法螺 (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · fo skrøggsøga (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · it fandonia (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · pl niewiarygodna historia (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated) · es patraña (tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated)