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大ぼら (おおぼら) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

大おおぼら

Meanings

1

noun

big lie; whopper

Refers to an outrageous, exaggerated lie or tall tale. Often used in the phrase 大ぼらを吹く (to tell a big lie/whopper).

彼かれはまた大おおぼらを吹ふいている。
He's telling another big lie.
その話はなしはどうせ大おおぼらだろう。
That story is probably a whopper anyway.

Written forms

大おおぼら
Common mixed kanji-kana spelling; ぼら is usually written in kana.
大おおボラ
Katakana variant of ぼら, sometimes used for emphasis or in casual writing.
大おお法ぼ螺ら
Full kanji spelling; 法螺 is a rare ateji for ぼら (conch shell, tall tale).

Kanji

大large, big
法method, law, rule

螺small, edible, helical fresh-water mollusk

Similar words

法ほ螺ら
法螺 alone means 'conch shell' or 'tall tale'; 大ぼら is a more emphatic version meaning a particularly big lie.
嘘うそ
嘘 is a general word for 'lie'; 大ぼら specifically implies an exaggerated, boastful, or unbelievable lie.

Etymology

From 大 (big) + ぼら (conch shell, tall tale). ぼら originally referred to a conch shell used as a horn, and by extension came to mean 'boasting' or 'tall tale'.