sailing under false colorsとは 意味・読み方・使い方

引用

• (Can we date this quote?) Annie Thomas, "False Colours":

  They were all not exactly sailing under false colours, but deceiving themselves as to their motives--and one another, to a lesser degree, by their actions.

参考

• With flying colors on Wikipedia.

参照

• Breverton, Terry (2004, Pelican Publishing Company)."sailing under false colors." The pirate's dictionary.
• (1877, Oxford House.) "Correspondence." British journal of dental science, Volume 20.
• Lennox, Doug (2007, Dundurn Press Ltd.). "Why when someone we trusted turns against us do we say "he's shown his true colours"?" Now You Know Big Book of Answers.
• Thomas, Annie (1869, Tinsley Borthers). "Miss Vargrave nearly lands a fish." False Colours.