Tomar el pelo
Meaning: To pull someone's leg; to tease.
Language: Spanish
Literally: To take someone's hair
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: The exact origin is genuinely uncertain, with two competing historical theories. One reaches for the Roman and medieval periods, when a beard carried real social importance, and touching or pulling someone's beard without permission was a serious insult, potentially provocation enough for a duel. A second points to the disciplinary haircuts historically given to new prisoners and military recruits as a hygiene measure — a practice widely experienced as a deliberate humiliation rather than a neutral procedure. Both theories converge on the same underlying idea: taking hold of someone's hair, in whatever context, as an act of mockery or degradation directed at a person who has no say in the matter — the same lack of control a person being teased or deceived experiences today.
Equivalents in other languages
- English: pull someone's leg — literally: to pull someone's leg
More idioms — Body & Senses
- Avere le braccine corte — To be stingy; to never reach for the check.
- Empurrar com a barriga — To procrastinate; to keep delaying something.
- Τρώω τα νύχια μου — I'm extremely anxious and impatient.
- Casser les pieds à quelqu'un — To annoy or bore someone greatly.
- Avoir un poil dans la main — To be extremely lazy.
- Prendre ses jambes à son cou — To run away very fast.
More Spanish idioms
- Ponerse las botas — To stuff yourself with food or to profit greatly.
- estar en la luna de Valencia — Completely distracted or absent-minded, oblivious to what's happening around you.
- irse por los cerros de Úbeda — To digress or wander off-topic during conversation without purpose or reason.
- comerse un rosco — To fail completely or strike out; to get nothing at all in a romantic or competitive cont…
- estar más claro que el agua — Something is obvious, evident, and beyond any doubt or confusion.
- tener un rabo de paja — To feel guilty or anxious about something, fearing exposure of a personal fault or secret.
From our tongue twisters
- Pepe Pecas pica papas con un pico. ¿Con qué pico pica papas Pepe Pecas? — A bouncy 'p' cluster that accelerates with the question at the end.
- El perro de San Roque no tiene rabo porque Ramón Ramírez se lo ha robado. — A rolled-'r' workout — every word demands the vibrating trill.
- Erre con erre cigarro, erre con erre barril; rápido ruedan los carros sobre los rieles del ferrocarril. — The definitive Spanish rr drill — unrelenting double-r from start to finish.