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Idioms about Dishonesty

Fill the blanks in these idioms about dishonesty and theft.
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: August 6, 2013
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First submittedAugust 6, 2013
Times taken10,152
Average score66.7%
Rating4.13
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Idiom
Lie through one's teeth
Stretch the truth
Cook the books
Five-finger discount
Smoke and mirrors
Under false pretenses
Barefaced lie
Idiom
Caught red-handed
Fly by night
Lead up the garden path
Pull a fast one
Taken for a ride
Pull the wool over one's eyes
A snake in the grass
Idiom
Cock and bull story
Feather one's nest
Grease someone's palm
Ill-gotten gains
Crooked as a dog's hind leg
Pulling one's leg
A tall tale
26 Comments
+4
Level 55
Sep 23, 2013
20/21, should have cheated...
+3
Level 76
Sep 11, 2014
But did you really get 20?
+2
Level 72
Oct 1, 2019
noone will believe you anymorenow
+3
Level 69
Sep 23, 2013
Never heard of bare faced lie. Bold faced lie maybe.
+1
Level ∞
Sep 23, 2013
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lie#Barefaced_lie
+2
Level 57
Dec 16, 2013
I've never heard bold-faced, just barefaced and baldfaced.
+1
Level 89
Jul 2, 2015
bare-assed is what i've heard most.
+3
Level 85
Jun 1, 2017
Heard bald-faced mostly, though I've also heard bare-faced. (since both are synonymous) Bold-faced is simply a common mistaken repeating of what someone thought they heard. (similar to "hone in", when it should be "home in"....people lack comprehension, and repeat something that is actually merely close to what they heard)
+1
Level 72
Oct 1, 2019
hone makes sense though, since it means refine, make more precise, get sharper (and later on also more focused).

Edit: read up on it a bit more and as I read it, both are accepted, and one only appeared about 10 years (documented version as always in these cases, you are never sure when things Actually were used in speech, only when they first appear in written sources) after the other. So nearly simultaneously, or better yet got altered from early on.

+2
Level 39
Jul 27, 2020
I missed out the d when typing it :(
+1
Level 62
Sep 23, 2013
Well the dog's hind leg was a new one to me. Got all the others although not sure what that says about my character!
+2
Level 46
Sep 23, 2013
Kept trying taken for a fool.
+1
Level 49
Dec 11, 2014
Me too, but that wouldn't be an idiom since its meaning is literal, not figurative.
+1
Level 76
May 24, 2019
I tried fool and chump
+3
Level 59
Sep 23, 2013
Can you accept a tall story as well please?
+1
Level 28
Sep 23, 2013
In Texas it's called a bare naked lie or bare assed lie
+1
Level 83
Jan 23, 2018
The expression 'Cock and bull story' originates from my home town :)
+2
Level 81
Apr 12, 2021
I don't believe this.
+1
Level 79
Dec 3, 2021
Are you from Milton Keynes?
+1
Level 79
Jan 1, 2024
Given that Milton Keynes didn't exist before 1967, no.
+1
Level 48
Oct 19, 2018
got 100%... must have bad blood, or something...LOL
+2
Level 64
Sep 13, 2021
Tall *story* is more common in UK English
+1
Level 67
Nov 29, 2023
I've heard tale more often (UK)
+1
Level 79
Dec 3, 2021
Arghh.. I tried 'begotten' instead of 'gotten'
+1
Level 19
Apr 15, 2023
you should accept book for books, i thought i had it wrong
+1
Level 67
Dec 20, 2023
I've always heard it as "snake in the garden" and got one of the idioms right on accident!