What is "smoke and mirrors"

n. (context idiomatic English) A deceptive, fraudulent, or unconvincing explanation or description.

Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions is a collection of short stories and poems by Neil Gaiman. It was first published in the United States in 1998, and in the United Kingdom in 1999.

Many of the stories in this book are reprints from other sources, such as magazines, anthologies, and collections (including ten stories and poems from Gaiman's earlier small press miscellany Angels and Visitations).

Smoke and mirrors is a metaphor for a deceptive, fraudulent or insubstantial explanation or description. The source of the name 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.

In mathematics, 'Name is Smoke and Mirrors' ('Name ist Schall und Rauch', literally: 'name is sound and smoke' in German) from Goethe's poem Faust was Henri Poincare's response to Felix Klein's vexation of Poincare's creation of the term 'the Kleinian function for all other cases of S'.

In the field of computer programming, it is used to describe a program or functionality that does not yet exist, but appears as though it does. This is often done to demonstrate what a resulting project will function/look like after the code is complete — at a trade show, for example.

Smoke and mirrors is a metaphor for a deceptive, fraudulent or insubstantial explanation or description.

Smoke and mirrors may also refer to:

Smoke and Mirrors is the fifth studio album by American rapper O.C. of the D.I.T.C. crew. It was released on Hieroglyphics Imperium Recordings in 2005.

In the album, O.C. reflects on himself, his family, broken love and much on the workings and shadiness in the music business; "Behind all the glitz and hype lies the reality of the business, superficially, empty promises, bootlicking and soul-selling" is written in the booklet.

"Smoke and Mirrors", known as "Pit of Secrets" in the United States, is the tenth and final episode of the second series, and the 16th episode overall of the British television series Spooks. It first aired on BBC One on 11 August 2003. The episode was written by Howard Brenton, and directed by Sam Miller. In the episode, Tom Quinn ( Matthew Macfadyen) is being framed by thought-to-be-dead CIA agent Herman Joyce ( Tomas Arana), as revenge for what happened to his daughter. After its original broadcast, the finale was seen by seven million people, a third of the television audience during its time slot. The episode, particularly due to its cliffhanger, received critical acclaim.

Smoke and Mirrors is the fifth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Brett Dennen. It was released on October 22, 2013, by F-Stop Music/ Atlantic Records. The album peaked at number 65 on the Billboard 200 album chart, number 10 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart, and number 19 on Billboard's Top Rock Albums chart.

Smoke and Mirrors is 2008 crime novel by Australian author Kel Robertson. It won the 2009 Ned Kelly Award. It is the second novel in the author's series about Australian Chinese Federal Police detective Brad Chen.