A: What do you think of Mary’s report?

    B: It’s little more than smoke and mirrors. No one will believe any of it.

    Note: It’s an idiom for a deceptive, fraudulent or insubstantial explanation or description. The origin of this term is based on magicians’ illusions, where magicians make objects appear or disappear by extending or retracting mirrors amid a distracting burst of smoke. The expression may have a connotation of virtuosity or cleverness in carrying out such a deception. This usage came from the writings of the American journalist Jimmy Breslin. In his “Notes from Impeachment Summer,” 1975, Breslin twice referred to smoke and mirrors being used in the U.S. political scene.