You might have heard people say something like blowing smoke up your ass or blow smoke up your ass. It must be slang or a figure of speech, right? But just like many slangs, it too can be interpreted in different ways as no Wikipedia page or oxford dictionary will stick to one meaning or the other. So, this article will cover what it means when someone says that I’ll blow smoke up your ass, along with the history and uses of this slang.
1. Interpretation as Boosting someone’s Ego
When someone tells you that a person is blowing smoke up your ass, it means that he/she is boosting your ego by presenting a compliment or something personal about you. In this case, the person appreciates only to misguide or deceive you. Thus, this might lead you to getting a wrong assumption about the subject or pertaining to a specific object or even sometimes make a wrong decision. (See Eating the Elephant Meaning)
2. Examples of using this Slang to Boost an Ego
The use of this line can be done among two people talking about a third person, like
- I know you won’t believe me but that guy was blowing smoke up your ass and made you buy the car because he is a car salesman. This statement denotes that a car salesman inflated the ego of a customer with compliments to make them buy the car.
Another use can be among two people talking about their relationship.
- It can be between an employee and his boss, where the employee compliments his boss, and then the boss replies, do you really find this interesting, or are you just blowing smoke up my ass? (See Meaning Of One Two Fun Monkeys)
3. Interpretation as Showing anger
The first segment covers the meaning of blowing smoke up your ass as a method of inflating the ego, another annotation that is used is blow smoke up your ass or simply, blowing smoke up your ass.
- This slang refers to a person getting angry on a subject and showing signs of violence or using means of force to achieve something.
- It might also mean that the person is just letting down the anger and trying to calm themselves down. However, this interpretation was soon redacted as it didn’t make much sense to use an annotation like this. (Also read I Fly By the Seat of My Pants Meaning)
4. Examples of using this Slang to show Anger
Now that you have a little idea of what another meaning of this slang is, here are some examples to better understand the line.
- If you don’t give my money, I swear in my name that I will blow smoke up your ass. This is like a threat of violence that if the money is not paid by the listener to the speaker, the speaker will resort to violent measures in order to get the job done.
- You broke my vase and you are lucky that I am blowing smoke up your ass, this means that the speaker will not resort to violent measures but is warning the listener about serious implications.
5. Medical History of Phrase Blowing Smoke up your Ass
You might not believe but this slang had a literal meaning during the 1700s. This was an actual procedure that was used by medical doctors during that time as a cure. There was a suction tube that pushed air out when applied force from the back handle. The mouth from where the air was to be pushed was placed on the rectum and smoke was thrown inside the body. This was a reliable process for injecting something important into the body. This eventually led to the creation of syringes in one way or the other. (Also read What do Ice and Cold Symbolize?)
