smoke and mirrors

noun

(used with a singular or plural verb) something that distorts or blurs facts, figures, etc., like a magic or conjuring trick; artful deception.

Origin

1980-85

Examples from the web for smoke and mirrors

Airport security is a farcical theatre of smoke and mirrors.
Again, looking beyond the smoke and mirrors of this statement, it is clear this is not really the case.
All the smoke and mirrors boil down to those figures.
The financial industry has many of the characteristics of smoke and mirrors.
His rise, which involves a fair amount of smoke and mirrors, is presented without moral judgment.
Remove the claims of conspiracy and fraud, and the denial movement is nothing but smoke and mirrors.
The case for the prosecution is all smoke and mirrors, a tissue of half-truths perched on the thinnest of proof.
And now that there's no more smoke and mirrors to the viewing experience, the price tags seem almost comical to many brokers.
All those initiatives died because they were smoke and mirrors.
smoke and mirrors and one-time fixes simply won't get the job done.

British Dictionary definitions for smoke and mirrors

smoke and mirrors

noun

irrelevant or misleading information serving to obscure the truth of a situation

Word Origin

C20: reference to the use of smoke and mirrors in conjuring illusions

smoke and mirrors in Technology

Marketing deceptions. The term is mainstream in this general sense. Among hackers it's strongly associated with bogus demos and crocked benchmarks (see also MIPS, machoflops). "They claim their new box cranks 50 MIPS for under $5000, but didn't specify the instruction mix - sounds like smoke and mirrors to me." The phrase has been said to derive from carnie slang for magic acts and "freak show" displays that depend on "trompe l"oeil' effects, but also calls to mind the fierce Aztec god Tezcatlipoca (lit. "Smoking Mirror") for whom the hearts of huge numbers of human sacrificial victims were regularly cut out. Upon hearing about a rigged demo or yet another round of fantasy-based marketing promises, hackers often feel analogously disheartened.