blowing smoke up my ass

to bullshit or lie, to tell a falsehood. originally comes from the era of snake-oil salesmen and traveling hucksters pandering cure-all ointments.

one said cure for many ailments (including constipation) was a “tobacco enema” in which the purveyor would literally blow smoke up the afflicted’s rectum with a device created solely for this purpose. obviously people caught on soon enough, and figured out that tobacco enemas were embarrassing as well as use…less.

as such, the phrase became the euphemism it is today for selling a line of nonsense to an otherwise naive or unsuspecting rube.
person 1: “did you know that recent studies show that rat feces are as effective as any available wrinkle cream on the market?”

person 2: “you’re totally blowing smoke up my ass”

not to be confused with the australian-ism: “pissing in my pocket” (h/t Matthew Robertson) or the american southernism “don’t piss in my ear and tell me it’s raining….”

Via “waterbrother” from Urban Dictionary, Sept 11, 2009 with embellishment courtesy of old friend Scott Savitt.