# All Slavic languages: He's lying through his teeth.



## Encolpius

Hello, what idiom do you use if a person is a very good, professional liar? 

*Czech*: Lže, jako když tiskne. [he's lying as if it is printed]

Do you have a similar expression? I am mostly interested in similes. 

-Thanks-


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## ahvalj

Russian: «врёт и не краснеет», literally "he is lying without blushing", so rather remote from the Czech form.


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## Azori

_Slovak: _(not sure if the translations are correct)

*Klame, až sa hory zelenajú.* (He lies so much that the mountains are turning green.)

*Klame, až sa práši. / Klame, len sa (tak) práši.* (He lies so much that it's dusty / getting dusty.)


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## bibax

ahvalj said:


> Russian: «врёт и не краснеет», literally "he is lying without blushing", so rather remote from the Czech form.


Лжёт и не краснеет. = Lže a ani se nečervená. (Lže a ani se nezačervená. Lže bez uzardění.)

It is common. I think Encolpius wanted to hear something special.

In fact the whole Czech phrase was:

Lže jako když *Rudé právo* tiskne. (= Лжёт так, как *Правда* печатает.)

Another phrase:

Lže až se mu od huby práší. ... hence Baron Prášil (prášiti = to raise dust)


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## ahvalj

Well, there was apparently less impact from the media here since I cannot recall any stable phrase with any newspaper. There is, however, a stronger and spoken Russian expression «врёт как сивый мерин», "he is lying like a grey gelding". No idea as to the origin of it, most probably the reason is long forgotten. Also, the etymological meaning of «врать» was apparently close to "cast a spell, bewitch" (hence «врач», "conjurer" -> "physician") so the gelding may have come from this context as well.


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## bibax

In Czech there are no words related to the Russian verb «врать» (to lie), only лгать = lháti. The colloquial synonym of lháti is *prášiti* (пылить, порошить):

*Zase prášíš.* = lit. Снова пылишь. = You're lying again.
*Práší se mu od huby.* = lit. Ему пылится от пасти. = He is lying.
*baron Prášil* = baron Münchhausen (Мюнхгаузен);

Similar verbs: *žvaniti*_, colloq. _*kecati* = болтать, плести небылицы:
*Kecáš!* = Врёшь! *Co žvaníš?!* = Что ты болтаешь?!

From my childhood I remember a Russian captain Врунгель (врун = liar + Врангель = family name of many Russian barons), an analogy of baron von Münchhausen.


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## ahvalj

I am digressing from the thread topic, but just to clarify: the verb «врать» seems to be pretty old — there are several etymologies as far as I remember, the most interesting one being that this *wer- is in fact the unextended IE root found otherwise in the word "word/verbum" (<*wrdho-) or "vardas" (*wordho-). The Russian meaning "to lie" is obviously secondary.


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## jasio

The closest idiom in Polish would probably be 'kłamać bez mrugnięcia okiem' ('to lie without even blinking an eye'). There are also a few others, like: 'kłamać jak z nut' ('to lie like from the score'), or 'kłamać jak najęty' ('to lie as if hired').



Azori said:


> *Klame, až sa práši. / Klame, len sa (tak) práši.* (He lies so much that it's dusty / getting dusty.)



That's interesting... when I started looking for it, I encountered  "kłamie, aż się za nim kurzy" in Polish, which seems to be pretty close.  I have never heard it myself though.


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## oveka

Ukrainian:
у живі очі бреше          with bright eyes lying
бреше, аж вуха в’януть         lying till fade ears
бреше й не оглядається           lies not examined
бреше, аж куриться             lies, smokes up
бреше, як з листу бере          lies, both sheet is
бреше як рудий собака           lying as red dog
бреше як собака на висівки       lying like a dog on a bran
бреше й оком не змигне      lies and no eye ??? wink
бреше, як хліб з маслом їсть          lies, as eating bread and butter
бреше, аж не стямиться           lies, not even  ??? come to
бреше, як шовком шиє            lying as silk sews
у нього на осиці кислиці           in his --different trees
плете дуба            weaves oak


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## ahvalj

Three more Russian examples influenced by the Ukrainain post:
Ukrainian «у живі очі» ~ Russian «на голубом глазу», literally: "on a blue eye"
Ukrainian «вуха в’януть» = Russian «уши вянут»
Ukrainian «й оком не змигне» = Russian «и глазом не моргнёт»

By the way, Slavic brexati originally meant dog barking, so the Ukrainian, having used it for the meaning "to lie", has apparently preserved the original meaning in «бреше як рудий собака». This somehow supports my assumption that the Russian «врёт как сивый мерин» may reflect some older meaning of «врать» (such horses used/not recommended in divination??).


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## jasio

oveka said:


> Ukrainian:
> у живі очі бреше          with bright eyes lying



In Polish: "kłamie w żywe oczy". However in Polish it's more about the nerve rather than about lying skills.



oveka said:


> бреше, аж вуха в’януть         lying till fade ears



Haven't heard this one. In Polish we only swear this way: "klnie, aż uszy więdną". 



oveka said:


> бреше як рудий собака           lying as red dog



In Polish there is a similar, albeit rare phrase, but it refers to a red fox rather than to a red dog: "kłamie, jak rudy lis".



oveka said:


> плете дуба            weaves oak



In Polish there is a similar phrase "pleść duby smalone", however it's more an euphemism used not to offend a speaker telling unbelievable stories, not necessarily consciously lying.  

BTW - I have always been mislead by an 'oak' meaning (with Ruthenian and Russian pronunciation in this case; in Polish the tree is called "dąb" rather than "*dub"), but today I found that it may be a loanword coming from German Döbel (http://pl.wikisource.org/wiki/Encyklopedia_staropolska/Duby_smalone#pl).


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## Gavril

Slovene (copied from the Pons.eu dictionary):

_Lažes, da se kar kadi!_ = roughly, "You're lying so much that I can see smoke!"
_Laže, kot pes teče_ = "He's lying, just as the dog runs"


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