chuku

How to say it

Meaning

a heated cupping-glass applied to the skin in traditional medicine to draw blood, or figuratively an exaggerated tale.

Good to know

chief idiom is piga chuku, to cup/bleed someone medically, or figuratively to exaggerate or tell tall stories; hadithi ya chuku is a piece of pure fiction.

Examples

• Mganga alimpiga mgonjwa chuku mgongoni.The healer applied a cupping-glass to the patient's back.
• Usinipige chuku, sema ukweli tu.Don't exaggerate to me, just tell the truth.
• Hadithi yake ilikuwa chuku tupu.His story was pure fabrication.
• Je, kweli aliona simba au ni chuku?Did he really see a lion, or is that an exaggeration?