IELTS Idioms for Deception
1) blow the whistle on someone/something
Meaning- If you blow the whistle on something dishonest or illegal, or on someone who is doing something dishonest or illegal, you tell the authorities about them because you feel strongly that what they are doing is wrong.
Example- Members of coastal communities are being asked to blow the whistle on activities that damage the marine environment.
2) cover your tracks
Meaning- If someone covers their tracks, they hide or destroy evidence of what they have done or where they have been.
Example- He was a very clever man who never took a chance, a man who always covered his tracks.
3) be economical with the truth
Meaning- If someone is economical with the truth, they deceive people by not telling them the whole truth about something.
Example- When they insisted that no changes had been made to the original plan, his team was being economical with the truth.
4) give the game away
Meaning- If someone or something gives the game away, they reveal something which someone had been trying to keep secret.
Example- Eric had intended to make his announcement in an article in The Times but the paper gave the game away by advertising the article a week before publishing.
5) go behind someone's back
Meaning- If someone goes behind your back, they do something secretly or without your permission.
Example- Do you think I wouldn't know if you went behind my back?
6) go through the motions
Meaning- If you go through the motions, you do something that you have to do or are expected to do, but without any real effort or enthusiasm.
Example- Alex didn't really care about his job anymore, he was just going through the motions.
7) a hidden agenda
Meaning- If someone has a hidden agenda, they are secretly trying to achieve something while they appear to be doing something else.
Example- The unions fear these tactics are part of a hidden agenda to reduce pay and conditions throughout the company.
8) keep something under your hat
Meaning- If you keep something under your hat, you do not tell anyone else about it. [INFORMAL]
Example- Very few people know, so keep it under your hat.
9) lead someone up the garden path
Meaning- If someone leads you up the garden path, they deceive you by making you believe something which is not true.
Example- He led me up the garden path. He said their relationship was over but now I know that it wasn't.
10) lie through your teeth
Meaning- If someone lies through their teeth, they tell obvious lies and do not seem to be embarrassed about this.
Example- We ought to be angry that public officials lie through their teeth.
11) on the fiddle
Meaning- If someone is on the fiddle, they are getting money dishonestly, for example by cheating with the accounts at work. [BRITISH]
Example- A postman earning only £136 a week drove around in a Porsche for six months before his bosses realized he was on the fiddle.
12) pull someone's leg
Meaning- If you pull someone's leg, you tease them about something, for example by telling them something which is not true.
Example- Tracey hasn't really got a new job in New York. She was just pulling your leg.
13) sweep something under the carpet
Meaning- If you sweep a problem under the carpet, you try to hide it and forget about it. [BRITISH]
Example- People often hope that if they sweep something under the carpet the problem will go away, but that is not the case.
Example- The problem has been brushed under the carpet for decades.
14) a white lie
Meaning- If you tell a white lie, you say something which is untrue, often in order to protect someone or to avoid upsetting someone.
Example- I said she looked nice, thinking it kinder to tell a white lie.
Example- I said she looked nice, thinking it kinder to tell a white lie.
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