boastful story; tall tale
Idiomatic expression referring to an exaggerated, self-aggrandizing story, likened to the boasting of a tengu.
His success story sounds like a boastful tale.
story about tengu
Literal meaning: a tale or legend featuring tengu (mythical creatures). Less common than the idiomatic sense.
See also: 天狗
This picture scroll depicts several stories about tengu.
Refers to the mythical tengu creature itself, not the story.
Also means 'tall tale' or 'boastful story', but without the tengu imagery; more general.
Standard kanji spelling.
Rare variant using 咄 instead of 話; mostly seen in older texts.
Compound of 天狗 (tengu, a mythical boastful creature) and 話 (story). The idiomatic sense comes from the tengu's association with arrogance and boasting.