yarn-spinning
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Adjective: - Inclined to tell long and involved stories (often of incredible happenings): Describes a person who has a tendency to narrate lengthy, elaborate, and often exaggerated or fanciful tales.
Usage
This adjective is used to characterize a person's storytelling style or habitual behavior. It often carries a connotation of the stories being entertaining but potentially implausible or highly embellished. - It typically modifies nouns like person, uncle, friend, or grandfather. - It is often used in a descriptive, sometimes humorous or affectionate, manner.
Examples
- My yarn-spinning grandfather kept the children captivated for hours with tales of his youth.
- She avoided the yarn-spinning fisherman at the pub, knowing his stories would take all evening.
- He has a yarn-spinning nature, always turning a simple event into a grand adventure.
Advanced Usage
- As a compound modifier: The term can be hyphenated when used directly before a noun (e.g., a yarn-spinning raconteur) but may be open when used predicatively (e.g., His tales were evidence of his yarn spinning).
- Nuance: While it can imply exaggeration, it does not necessarily mean the person is lying; the focus is on the elaborate, entertaining, and protracted nature of the narration.
Variants and Related Words
- Yarn (noun): A long or rambling story, especially one that is implausible.
- He told us a yarn about meeting a pirate.
- Spin a yarn (idiom, verb phrase): To tell a long, far-fetched story.
- He loves to spin a yarn about his travels.
Synonyms
- Garrulous: Excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters.
- Long-winded: Using or containing too many words.
- Anecdotal: Characterized by or given to telling short, entertaining accounts of incidents.
Related Idioms and Phrases
- Spin a yarn: To tell a story, typically one that is lengthy or not entirely true.
- The old sailor would spin a yarn for anyone who would listen.
Adjective
- inclined to tell long and involved stories (often of incredible happenings)