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Smoke & mirrors

 

An idiom is an expression whose meaning is not readily apparent based on the individual words in the expression. This forum is dedicated to discussing idioms and other sayings.


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Old October 11, 2007, 07:55 PM
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Smoke & mirrors

So, would smoke and mirrors be translated as humo y espejos or would it have to be something else?
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Old October 12, 2007, 10:46 AM
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It's the best option. Do you want alternatives??
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Old October 13, 2007, 12:19 PM
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If that's the best option, then it's ok with me. I was just wondering becuase I thought it might be an idiom and couldn't be translated literally.
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Old October 14, 2007, 10:45 AM
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Sorry, I didn't know it was an expression.
I translated it directly.....
a possible option it's "esto tiene truco" (that has a trick) but I need the complete sentence.
other options "con trampas"
sorry
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Old October 15, 2007, 11:24 AM
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The expression "smoke and mirrors" in English basically means that someone is trying to hide something or deceive you. You use it to describe any kind of fraudulent, deceptive, misleading description, explanation, speech etc. that someone gives.

So for example, after a politician's speech, someone might comment "That's all smoke and mirrors". And what they mean by that is something along these lines: "Todo lo que dijo son puras mentiras que nada más está tratando de encubrir lo que ha hecho, nada más quiere que nos quedemos tranquilos cuando la verdad es que es un fraude." Algo así. No sé si exista alguna expresión en español que sea similar.
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Old October 16, 2007, 12:51 AM
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The most near with "smoke and mirrors" then it's "vender humo"
After a politician's speech, you can say "Nos ha vendido humo" ("he has sell us smoke").
You imply all the words/promises are fake, not-working promises, merits that not are really theirs or something like this.
It has also a computer similar: vaporware
It's similar to the expresion "cortina de humo"/smoke screen, but here you're covering something, by "vender humo" you only says words that means nothing feasible.

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PD: If you have a title like "Smoke and mirrors" you can translate it as "Vendiendo humo" or "Vender humo"

Last edited by sosia; October 16, 2007 at 12:54 AM.
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