sell (one) a bill of goods
(redirected from have sold him a bill of goods)sell (one) a bill of goods
To attempt to convince one of a lie, especially in order to take unfair advantage of them; to swindle or con one. He said he would sell my bike and bring me back the profits, but he sold me a bill of goods—I never heard from him again! So you told me you would study harder if I got you that new video game, but your grades got even worse. Looks like you sold me a bill of goods!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
sell someone a bill of goods
Fig. to get someone to believe something that isn't true; to deceive someone. Don't pay any attention to what John says. He's just trying to sell you a bill of goods. I'm not selling you a bill of goods. What I say is true.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
sell a bill of goods
Deceive, swindle, take unfair advantage of, as in He was just selling you a bill of goods when he said he worked as a secret agent, or Watch out if anyone says he wants to trade bikes with you; he's apt to be selling you a bill of goods . The bill of goods here means "a dishonest offer." [c. 1920]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
sell someone a bill of goods
deceive or swindle someone, usually by persuading them to accept something untrue or undesirable.A bill of goods is a consignment of merchandise.
1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) There was no production bonus…We were sold a bill of goods.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
sell a bill of goods
Informal To take unfair advantage of.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
sell someone a bill of goods, to
To cheat or defraud someone. A “bill of goods,” in commercial language, is a quantity or consignment of merchandise. Selling it here means persuading someone to accept something undesirable. The term dates from the early twentieth century. The playwright Eugene O’Neill used it in Marco Millions (1924), “Selling a big bill of goods hereabouts, I’ll wager, you old rascals?” Or, in the Toronto Globe and Mail (Feb. 17, 1968), “There was no production bonus . . . we were sold a bill of goods.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer