it's a long story
Definition
› something that you say when someone has asked you about something that has happened and you do not want to explain it to them because it would take too long: 'So why was Carlo knocking on your door at midnight?' 'It's a long story.'Defining and explaining
(Definition of it's a long story from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus
© Cambridge University Press)
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- Admitting & confessing
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- Describing & telling stories
- Exaggerating & playing down
- Gestures & gesturing
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- Informal talking & conversation
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- Interrupting & preventing from speaking
- Inviting & summoning
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- Meaning & significance
- Meeting people
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- People who reveal secrets & tell tales
- Questioning people & asking questions in general
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- Remarks & remarking
- Revealing secrets & becoming known
- Saying & uttering
- Saying again
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- Stressing & emphasizing
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- Yes, no & not
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SMART Thesaurus
Synonyms and related words:
- account (to sb) for sth phrasal verb
- belabour verb (EXPLAIN)
- bill sb as sth phrasal verb
- characterize verb
- define verb (EXPLAIN)
- demythologize verb
- every picture tells a story idiom
- explanatory adjective
- explicate verb
- expound verb
- fill sb in phrasal verb
- get sth across phrasal verb
- outline noun (DESCRIPTION)
- outline verb (DESCRIBE)
- paint a black picture of sth/sb idiom
- pinpoint verb
- trace verb (FIND)
- unpack verb (EXPLAIN)
- viz. adverb
- what is he, are they, etc. like? idiom
Topic:
Defining & explaining
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