"Lies" is the insider term for the tall tales that storytellers tell. See this use of the term from Zora Neale Hurston's now classic book "Mules To Men", a collection of African American Folklore from the author's hometown of Eatonville, Florida:

"Hurston announces upon her arrival, "'... Ah come to collect some old stories and tales and Ah know y'all know plenty of 'em and that's why Ah headed straight for home,'" to which the inhabitants of Eatonville respond, "'What you mean, Zora, them big old lies we tell when we're just sittin' here on the store porch doin' nothin'?'"
Source: Reading Hurston writing