Episode 77 English Idioms To Use When You Want To Talk About Lying

Today we're talking about lying. There are lots of ways that we use lies in different societies. In the UK we often use lies as a way to be more polite. Today we'll look at idioms that describe lies or liars. There is a whole playlist on the YouTube channel full of Idioms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsPIPxMZYqs&list=PL6eu7BlE1AJTNrEu-AXgB9fl1mVyz_z79 See you tomorrow! Today's Idioms A little white lie - this describes a lie that we think isn't bad or we might even think is good for someone. We often tell a little white lie if we think the information will make someone sad, angry or unhappy, instead we keep them in the dark. (In some parts of the world (not English speaking) this is called a pink lie) Lying through your teeth - We describe someone as 'lying through their teeth' when we want to emphasise that they are definitely lying or that this is a big or obvious lie. Pull the wool over your eyes - This is when we purposefully try to trick someone with our words, perhaps telling lies or hiding the truth or stretching the truth (we'll come to that tomorrow). We use it when we think someone is being fooled or when we want to describe how a bad person is fooling someone. To take someone for a ride - this is very similar to the idiom above, it means someone is tricking you. Very often the goal is to take your money. Additional Vocabulary On the one hand...on the other - we use this phrase when we want to explain or talk through two different points of view or situations, we are usually comparing things. crooks - bad people, perhaps stealing money or things, but just generally not trustworthy people buying into it - phrasal verb - if you 'buy into something' then that means you trust and believe in it. If you say, 'I'm not buying it' or 'I'm not buying into it', then it means you do not trust what they're saying and you think they might be lying to you. They're trying to get money out of you - 'get money out of you' we use this phrase to describe when someone is trying to make you give some of your money. It might be for a charity that we don't believe in or trust, or it might be someone trying to trick you out of your money. We can also use this to describe family members or friends who are always asking for money. 'Why are they calling?' 'They just want to get more money out of me.'