Meanings
- colloquialidiomaticI do not believe what you said.
William. No palaver! tell it to the marines. What, tacking and double tacking! Come to what you want to say at once.
1829, Douglas Jerrold, Act I, Scene ?1 more example
I don’t believe the story you have been telling me, either, and think it far more likely that you are hiding from justice on account of some devil’s work you have been engaged in. Bah! Tell your story to the marines!
1868 February, Caroline M. Sawyer, “The Jester of Durano; Or, The Times of Old”, in The Ladies’ Repository, a Universalist Monthly Magazine for the Home Circle, volume XXXIX, Boston, Mass.: The Universalist Publishing House, page 128Synonyms: tell it to Sweeney, tell it to the judge
Synonyms & antonyms
phraseI do not believe what you said.
Origin
Unknown, with many apocryphal suggestions.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 鬼才信呢
- 鬼才信呢expression of disbelief
Dutch maak dat de kat wijs
- maak dat de kat wijsexpression of disbelief
Finnish puhu pukille
- puhu pukilleexpression of disbelief
Hungarian hiszi a piszi
- hiszi a pisziexpression of disbelief
Italian raccontalo a qualcun altro, dillo a qualcun altro
- raccontalo a qualcun altroexpression of disbelief
- dillo a qualcun altroexpression of disbelief
Norwegian Bokmål den må du lenger ut på landet med
- den må du lenger ut på landet medexpression of disbelief
Russian расскажи́ э́то свое́й ба́бушке, расскажи́ э́то кому́-нибу́дь друго́му
- расскажи́ э́то свое́й ба́бушке (rasskaží éto svojéj bábuške)expression of disbelief
- расскажи́ э́то кому́-нибу́дь друго́му (rasskaží éto komú-nibúdʹ drugómu)expression of disbelief
- ври́ бо́льше (vrí bólʹše)expression of disbelief
- мели, Емеля (meli, Jemelja)expression of disbelief
- мели, Емеля, твоя неделя (meli, Jemelja, tvoja nedelja)expression of disbelief
Spanish a otro perro con ese hueso
- a otro perro con ese huesoexpression of disbelief
Turkish külahıma anlat
- külahıma anlatexpression of disbelief
Vietnamese nói cho ma nó nghe
- nói cho ma nó ngheexpression of disbelief
Cite this entry
tell it to the marines. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tell%20it%20to%20the%20marines
“tell it to the marines.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tell%20it%20to%20the%20marines. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tell it to the marines,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tell%20it%20to%20the%20marines.
Source: tell it to the marines on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.