When you stretch the truth, watch out for the snapback.

Using the metaphor of an elastic band, the quote warns that dishonesty has a built-in recoil: the more you distort facts to suit your purposes, the more forcefully reality (or other people) may correct you later. “Snapback” suggests consequences that are sudden and painful—loss of credibility, exposure, or the collapse of a fabricated story under scrutiny. The line also implies a practical ethic: truth can be tested and stretched only so far before it breaks, and the damage from being caught often exceeds any short-term gain from exaggeration. It’s a concise admonition about integrity and reputational risk.