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Cry wolf

verb

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To raise a false alarm; to constantly warn others about an imagined threat, thereby failing to get assistance when a real threat appears. idiomatic

    "The politicians would cry wolf at the slightest provocation so when the real threat appeared no one believed them."

Etymology

From the fable The Boy Who Cried Wolf, where a little boy amuses himself by repeatedly crying "wolf" to see the panic he causes in the community, but is consequently ignored when he tries to alert them to a real wolf.

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