eli5 Where did the phrase “blowing smoke” come from? What does it have to do with lying?

Question

eli5 Where did the phrase “blowing smoke” come from? What does it have to do with lying?

In: Other

Answer 1

It came from magicians using smoke as part of their act to conceal things. A magician wants to make you believe something appeared from nowhere and a common tactic is to use smoke to hide the sleight of hand, they’re actively attempting to deceive the audience.

And as lying is also trying to deceive, the dots were connected.