ESL Podcast 555 - Lying and Telling the Truth
full of it - saying something that isn't true; lying or exaggerating
You're so full of it! There's no way you used to be a professional football player. I don't believe you.
God's honest truth - something that is absolutely true; used when one wants to emphasize that what one is saying is not a lie
I would never hurt you, and that's the God's honest truth!
to have (one's) heart set on (something) - to want to be, have, or do something very much
Capac had his heart set on becoming a doctor, so he was devastated when he wasn't accepted into medical school.
to go behind (one's) back - to do something secretly, without letting another person know about it
How could you go behind my back and read my diary? That's personal!
to put one over on (someone) - to do something to trick another person and make him or her believe something that isn't true
The students really put one over on their teacher, making her think that she had given them the wrong information about when the test would be.
to look (someone) in the eye - to make eye contact with another person, assuming that one can do so only if one is telling the truth, because one would be too ashamed or guilty to look into another person's eyes if one were lying
I knew you were lying, because you couldn't look me in the eye.
the picture of Honest Abe - a person who never tells a lie and is just like former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln who, according to legend, never told a lie
Luke is the picture of Honest Abe. I don't think he has ever told a lie.
there's not a dishonest bone in (one's) body - a phrase meaning that one does not lie and is not able to lie
There's not a dishonest bone in her body. If she said something, then it must be true.
white lie - a small, unimportant lie that doesn't hurt anyone and doesn't really matter
Do you believe there are white lies, or are all lies wrong?
bald-faced lie - a brazen, bold lie; without trying to hide the fact that one is lying
We couldn't believe our ears when our own daughter told us such a bald-faced lie about where she had been all evening.
to swear - to promise that one is telling the truth; to say very strongly that one is not lying
If you swear you're telling the truth, then I'll believe you.
fishy - seeming wrong, dishonest, strange, or bad
There's something fishy going on here, and as soon as I figure out what it is, you're going to be in a lot of trouble.
to plead the Fifth - to refuse to share information that could be used against oneself, referring to the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which says that no citizen "shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself"
The man pleaded the Fifth and refused to answer any of the lawyer's questions.
to spill (something) - to say something that should be kept a secret; to tell a secret; to share information that one did not want to share
Who spilled it that we were planning a surprise birthday party for Mabelle?
not on (one's) life - a phrase used to mean that something absolutely will not happen under any circumstances, even if one is facing death; a phrase used to strongly oppose what another person has proposed or suggested
You'll never tell anyone what happened here today, right?
Not on your life!