1.
to be exaggerated; to have embellishments added; to grow in the telling
Describes how a story or rumor gets embellished and exaggerated as it is passed from person to person, gaining details that were not in the original.
噂に尾ひれがつく。
The rumor gets embellished.
話に尾ひれがついて広まった。
The story spread with added embellishments.
小さな失敗だったのに、尾ひれがついて大事件のように語られている。
It was just a small mistake, but it was exaggerated and talked about as if it were a major incident.
Literally means 'a tail and fins get attached.' The image is of a story growing extra parts (like a fish growing a tail and fins) as it is retold, becoming increasingly exaggerated and embellished.
FORMS:
- 尾ひれがつく: embellishments get added (intransitive)
- 尾ひれをつける: to add embellishments (transitive)
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 噂に尾ひれがつく: a rumor gets embellished
- 話に尾ひれがつく: a story gets exaggerated
- 尾ひれがついて広まる: to spread with embellishments
SIMILAR EXPRESSIONS:
- 大げさになる: to become exaggerated — more straightforward; 尾ひれがつく is more vivid and idiomatic
- 話が膨らむ: a story inflates — similar concept but without the fish imagery
- 針小棒大: making a mountain out of a molehill — emphasizes the disproportion between fact and description