"blowing smoke"

hy2007

Meaning: to obscure, to obfuscate, to confuse, to disguise, to speak a lot
but no action at all

Example 1: Are you going to buy this or are you just blowing smoke? (the
speaker accussed you of wasting his time, basically, trying to confuse him,
that you talk a lot but don't do anything.)

Example 2: Tommy is blowing smoke again... Ignore everything he said about
Susan's business. He's not in it, nor had he ever been.

Origin: magicians usually have ground fog/smoke to make things look more
mysterious. Probably also derived from smokescreen, which is used to
conceal movement on a battlefield.