HATTA-RI はったり
Meanings
A bluff or display intended to overwhelm or impress others by exaggerating something small or pretending that something nonexistent is real.
Examples
Some punks picked a fight with me, so I bluffed that I had a black belt in karate and managed to get out of the situation.
チンピラに絡まれたが、空手の有段者であるとはったりを言って、その場を切り抜けた。
He’s a weak man who can’t survive without bluffing and pretending to be more than he is.
あいつは、はったりを言わなければ生きていけない、弱い人間なんだよ。
Dogmatic Opinion
Perhaps because HATTA-RI sounds a little like words meaning “stretched” or “thrown,” I have a faint image of someone hurling an inflated false image of themselves toward the other person.
The important thing is not simply lying. The lie or exaggeration is being used as pressure: “Believe that I am stronger, more capable, more connected, or more dangerous than I really am.”
It is performance as intimidation.
Proximate Expression
all talk
bluff
For Japanese Learners
Bluff, bluffing, bravado, and put on a show of bravado are natural. “はったりをかます” can be bluff, put on an act, or make an intimidating show. A plain lie is not necessarily HATTA-RI; the deception is specifically being used to make oneself or one’s position look bigger and stronger.
