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To cry wolf is an expression, not an idiom. It means to raise false alarms.

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"The Boy Who Cried Wolf" is a relatively modern (within the past few hundred years) parable, a story designed to teach a lesson. There was a village that was being terrorized by wolves. One day a boy in the village started shouting, "Wolf! Wolf!" All of the villagers dropped what they were doing and came running to help the boy, but when they got to him, there were no wolves, and the boy was laughing like crazy, delighting in the power his cries for help had over the other villagers. A few days later he did the same thing, hungry again for that feeling of power and being the center of attention. Again the villagers came running, and seeing that there was again no real danger became more annoyed with the boy. Several days later the boy was out playing when he failed to see the most vicious of the wolves sneaking up on him. Suddenly the wolf was attacking him. He cried, "Wolf! Wolf!" Not wanting to be made fools of again, the other villagers ignored him, and the wolf killed the boy.

These days, governments are hesitant to sound evacuation alarms due to an oncoming hurricane or tsunami, an imminently erupting volcano, etc. until they're reasonably sure that a real threat exists, because they know that if they sound the alarms and nothing happens, the public will be less likely to evacuate the next time the alarms sound.

On the Lighter Side

While you cannot falsely yell "Fire!" in a crowded movie house without getting in trouble, it is quite alright to yell "Movie!" in a crowded firehouse.

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