spin (one) a yarn
(redirected from spun them a yarn)spin (one) a yarn
To tell a lie or only part of the truth in order to convince one of something or to avoid the consequences of something. Don't you dare spin me a yarn about being at the library. I want to know exactly where you were tonight. I suspect he's just spinning a yarn about where all that money came from.
spin a yarn
Fig. to tell a tale. Grandpa spun an unbelievable yarn for us. My uncle is always spinning yarns about his childhood.
spin a yarn
Tell a story, especially a long drawn-out or totally fanciful one, as in This author really knows how to spin a yarn, or Whenever he's late he spins some yarn about a crisis. Originally a nautical term dating from about 1800, this expression probably owes its life to the fact that it embodies a double meaning, yarn signifying both "spun fiber" and "a tale."
spin a yarn
tell a story, especially a long and complicated one.A yarn is one of the long fibres from which a rope is made. The expression is nautical in origin and has been used in this figurative sense since the early 19th century.