pull someone's leg
Meaning: To joke or tease someone by telling them something untrue.
Language: English
Literally: to pull someone's leg
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: Likely 19th-century British slang; possibly from street thieves who tripped victims by pulling their leg to rob them.
Equivalents in other languages
- Spanish: Tomar el pelo — literally: To take someone's hair
More idioms — Body & Senses
- Avoir la gueule de bois — To be hungover.
- To turn a blind eye — To deliberately ignore something you know is wrong.
- To bite the bullet — To face something painful with gritted courage.
- Hablar por los codos — To talk nonstop.
- Costar un ojo de la cara — To be outrageously expensive.
- Quedarse de piedra — To be stunned speechless.
More English idioms
- Mad as a hatter — Completely eccentric or unhinged.
- To steal someone's thunder — To take credit for another's idea or upstage their big moment.
- Hair of the dog — A morning drink taken to cure a hangover.
- To go cold turkey — To quit a habit abruptly and completely.
- To cut the mustard — To meet the required standard; to succeed.
- To chew the fat — To chat idly and at length.
From our untranslatable words
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