sell someone a bill of goods

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sell someone a bill of goods (third-person singular simple present sells someone a bill of goods, present participle selling someone a bill of goods, simple past and past participle sold someone a bill of goods)

1. (idiomatic) To deceive or cheat someone.
   • 1953 June 16, “McCarran Raps Ike Speech at Dartmouth”, in Rome News-Tribune, US, retrieved 21 June 2009, page 3:

     "He showed no knowledge of his subject," McCarran told newsmen. ". . . Someone must have sold him a bill of goods."

   • 2004 February 9, John Cassidy, “Blame Game: Intelligence Services and the Iraq War”, in New Yorker:

     Bill O'Reilly, of the Fox News Channel, has called on the President to admit that the CIA sold him a bill of goods and to fire the agency's director.

• misinform