write checks one can't cash

English

Verb

write checks one can't cash (third-person singular simple present writes checks one can't cash, present participle writing checks one can't cash, simple past wrote checks one couldn't cash, past participle written checks one couldn't cash)

1. (idiomatic, informal) To make promises one cannot keep, or to make boasts that are not true.
   • 2020, Michel Prince, Fourth and Goal:

     You're acting like a frat boy, which is fun and all, but you're writing checks you can't cash.

   • 2022, Jennifer Brozek, Shadowrun: Elfin Black:

     “I think your mouth might be writing checks you can't cash.”

Alternative forms

• write cheques one can't cash

See also

• overpromise
• put one's money where one's mouth is