tells tales
Spins elaborate stories
To tell tales is to reveal secrets or report on others' misbehavior, especially to get them in trouble.
Children tell tales when they run to parents or teachers with complaints about siblings or classmates: Don't tell tales on your brother.
The phrase carries a whiff of disloyalty and childishness.
Separately, to tell tales can simply mean to narrate stories.
- rumorUnconfirmed circulating story
- rumor millInformal gossip network
- lieDeliberate falsehood
- white lieHarmless minor falsehood
- yarnTwisted strand for crafts
whisper · behind closed doors · story · backbiting · fable · hearsay · allegory · bedtime story · truth · informant · narrator · legend · tattletale · sneaks · gossip · scandal · secret · myth
tells taleskeeps mum
clams up · plays dumb · stonewalls · looks the other way · turns a blind eye
tells talescovers up
has someone's back · looks the other way · turns a blind eye · keeps faith · omertà
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