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What are some funny synonyms for to tell a lie?

E.g. fib, pull a Bill Clinton, etc.

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Fib isn't funny, and 'pull a Bill Clinton' sounds a bit too partisan and argumentative. Voting to close. – Robusto Feb 8 '11 at 15:33
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@Robusto: agreed the examples given aren’t terribly good; but the basic question is just another “big list of slang terms”, and there’s plenty of precedent for this class of question being allowed. On the other hand, they rarely produce terribly exciting results — I’m not sure how much they add to the site — has there ever been a meta discussion about whether these are on-topic? – PLL Feb 8 '11 at 15:42
The FAQ reports that a question where every answer is equally valid should not be asked here. If the question would not be subjective (for the fact it asks for funny synonyms), then every answer would be equally valid. – kiamlaluno Feb 8 '11 at 16:38
In the UK parliament you aren't allowed to call another politician a liar (!) so the phrase used is "a terminological inexactitude" – mgb Mar 29 '11 at 1:11

closed as not constructive by Robusto, RegDwighт♦, kiamlaluno, JSBձոգչ, Mehper C. Palavuzlar Feb 8 '11 at 18:12

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4 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted
  • Telling porkies.  (British & commonwealth slang, from rhyming pork pies = lies.)
  • Spinning a yarn.  (Esp. for long, elaborate lies.)
  • Being full of **shit.  (For a serious but barefaced attempt to pass a lie off as true. Also with horseshit, bullshit, or euphemistically just it.)
  • Pulling (someone’s) leg.  (Esp. for humorous, inconsequential lies.)
  • Having (someone) on.  (Brit/commonwealth again, I think? Not to be confused with having it off.)

Edit: oh, and how could I forget the classic euphemism:

  • Being economical with the truth.
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up vote 3 down vote

I always liked "bamboozle." "Hoodwink" and "hornswoggle" are good too.

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Those are not synonyms of lie but more specific: they're particular ways to lie. (I'm not arguing that this is a bad answer: it's a good one. It just needs a little caveat, as in PLL's and my answers.) – msh210 Feb 8 '11 at 16:19
up vote 2 down vote

prevaricate: to lie.

tell a tall tale: relate a story that starts off believably but eventually is obviously false.

slip one past: to get away with a (usually small) deceit, often used in the negative: "You nearly slipped that one past me."

pull the wool over one's eyes: to successfully deceive someone.

pull a fast one: To lie your way out of trouble, generally off-the-cuff, spur-of-the-moment talking.

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But be careful with 'prevaricate': it seems to be in course of changing its meaning to either 'beat around the bush' or 'procrastinate', and will not be understood with its former meaning everywhere. – Colin Fine Feb 8 '11 at 16:49
up vote 1 down vote

Cry wolf means to raise a false alarm (rather than to lie in general).

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