The whole thing is a canard!

The whole thing is a canard!"
falcehood

canard

COUNTABLE NOUN
A canard is an idea or a piece of information that is false, especially one that is spread deliberately in order to harm someone or their work.

The charge that Harding was a political stooge may be a canard.
 
canard
in American English

NOUN
1.  a false, esp. malicious, report that has been fabricated with the intention of doing harm
2.
a.  an airplane whose horizontal stabilizer is located forward of the wing or wings
b.  the horizontal control and stabilizing surfaces in such an aircraft
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.

Word origin
Fr, a duck, hoax; prob. < can, echoic for duck's quack + -ard, -ard; short for (vendre) un canard (; moiti;), lit., (to half-sell) a duck, i.e., to cheat
Word Frequency    

canard
in American English
(k;;n;;rd, French ka;na;)
NOUN
Word forms: plural -nards (-;n;;rdz, French -;na;)
1. a false or baseless, usually derogatory story, report, or rumor
2. Cookery
a duck intended or used for food
3. Aeronautics
a. an airplane that has its horizontal stabilizer and elevators located forward of the wing
b.  Also called: canard wing
one of two small lifting wings located in front of the main wings
c. an early airplane having a pusher engine with the rudder and elevator assembly in front of the wings

Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019 by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

Word origin
[1840–50; ‹ F: lit., duck; OF quanart drake, orig. cackler, equiv. to can(er) to cackle (of expressive orig.) + -art -art, as in mallart drake; see mallard]
Word Frequency    

canard
in British English
(k;;n;;d IPA Pronunciation Guide, French kanar IPA Pronunciation Guide )

NOUN
1. a false report; rumour or hoax
2. an aircraft in which the tailplane is mounted in front of the wing