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Reader question: Please explain this sentence: “More people are smoking e-cigarettes, but as a quitting tool, they may be all smoke and mirrors.” All smoke and mirrors? My comments: More people are smoking e-cigarettes, cigarettes that taste tobacco-like but presumably with little, less or no nicotine, but if you want to quit smoking altogether, e-cigarettes may not help. At least not as much as they’re made out to be. At least, I mean, that’s what we can infer from “smoke and mirrors”. “Smoke and mirrors” is a relatively new phrase (1980-85, Dictionary.com). They originally refer to the smoke and mirrors on the stage where a magician performs one of his/her tricks. The magician, you see, comes on stage. The light turns on. The audiences see spumes of smoke billowing from everywhere. And there are mirrors everywhere, reflecting the smoke to make the scene look even more smoke-filled and kind of choking and bewildering. And that’s the very idea. The mirrors and smoke are going to be very helpful to the magician – They help distract the attention while he/she performs his tricks. If the magician does their job right, the audience will all be mesmerized and marvel at how the magician’s got it done right in front of their eyes. All because of the smoke and mirrors, you see. In other words, all the smoke and mirrors help the magician hide what he/she is really doing. | 
