/konˈtaɾ ˈkwentos ˈtʃinos/ lit. ‘to tell Chinese tales’
Spanish idiom, everyday. To talk nonsense or tell tall stories.
Draft Not yet checked by a native Spanish speaker.
How do people use Contar cuentos chinos
?
Everyday Spanish across Spain and Latin America, usually said to someone you don’t believe: “¡no me cuentes cuentos chinos!”. The noun on its own works too: “eso es un cuento chino” (“that’s a load of nonsense”).
Also said no me vengas con cuentos chinos, eso es un cuento chino
Contar cuentos chinos
in real sentences
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¡No me cuentes cuentos chinos!
Don’t tell me fairy stories!
Tatoeba, sentence by enteka, translation by enteka, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Nadie creyó a Kevin porque todo lo que alguna vez dijo acabaron siendo cuentos chinos.
Nobody believed Kevin because everything he ever said turned out to be tall tales.
Tatoeba, sentence by teskmon, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Contar cuentos chinos
come from?
Nobody knows. English Wiktionary gives two folk stories: one blames Marco Polo’s unbelievable tales of China, the other the false promises made in the 1840s to Chinese workers taken to Cuba. Neither is backed by an early written use, so both are theories.
Mistakes learners make with Contar cuentos chinos
Treating it as a story from China. “Un cuento chino” is any lie or tall tale; calling a real Chinese folk tale “un cuento chino” will sound like you’re calling it rubbish.
Other Spanish idioms like Contar cuentos chinos
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?
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