Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
have one's leg pulled
English answer:
jokingly try to trick you/tricking someone in a joking manner
Added to glossary by
Elizabeth Lyons
Mar 2, 2006 00:09
18 yrs ago
1 viewer *
English term
Native in: Russian 
have one's leg pulled
Non-PRO
English
Art/Literary
Slang
"I have thoroughly enjoyed my public work for London. I think I am going to have my leg pulled by my work colleagues now that I am a commander, but it helps to build credibility for the work I do."
Responses
| 5 +6 | jokingly try to trick you |
Elizabeth Lyons
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| 3 +13 | going to be made fun of |
Trudy Peters
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| 4 +3 | not for grading |
RHELLER
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| 4 +1 | I will allow my colleagues to tease me/spoof me/make fun of me |
Romanian Translator (X)
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Change log
Mar 2, 2006 00:46: Ian M-H (X) changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
Responses
+6
3 mins
Elizabeth Lyons
United States
United States
Native in English
&
English
United States
Scientist / Linguist
Native in: English (Variants: UK, US)
Works in: French to English, Italian to English, Portuguese to English, and 2 more.
Selected
jokingly try to trick you
Pulling someone's leg usually involves telling them a story that isn't true, in a manner to make you think that it is true. It is usually good natured.
3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+13
10 mins
going to be made fun of
I'm going to be made fun of by my colleagues
My colleagues will make fun of me
At least that's the meaning in the US
My colleagues will make fun of me
At least that's the meaning in the US
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Dave Calderhead
58 mins
|
| agree |
Refugio
1 hr
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| agree |
KNielsen
: I think this is the meaning here. Normally pulling someone's leg means tricking them or telling them a tall tale, but here it definitely means "teased" or "be made fun of."
2 hrs
|
| agree |
KathyT
3 hrs
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| agree |
Marie Scarano
6 hrs
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| agree |
Jack Doughty
: That's the meaning in the UK too. And if you think someone is pulling your leg, you can reply: "Pull the other one, it's got bells on!"
7 hrs
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| agree |
LJC (X)
7 hrs
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| agree |
Peter Shortall
8 hrs
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| neutral |
sergey (X)
: make fun in what way? doesn't explain at all! that it's done by making them believe something that is not true.
8 hrs
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| agree |
juvera
: Sergey, have one's leg pulled means both, means teasing in a funny way, and in this case Trudy's answer is correct.
9 hrs
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| agree |
Mwananchi
9 hrs
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| agree |
awilliams
: this is the meaning here, yes
10 hrs
|
| agree |
Alfa Trans (X)
17 hrs
|
| agree |
conejo
4 days
|
+1
28 mins
I will allow my colleagues to tease me/spoof me/make fun of me
"pull one's leg. When you pull a person's leg you are spoofing or making fun of him, usually in a good-humored way. But that wasn't always the meaning of the expression. When the expression first turned up in Scotland about a hundred years ago, it was lacking the lighthearted touch it has today. In those days 'pull one's leg' meant to make of fool of him, often by outright cheating. The best theory of the origin of the phrase is that by tripping a person -- pulling his leg -- you can throw him into a state of confusion and make him look very foolish indeed." From "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" by William and Mary Morris (HarperCollinsPublishers).
If someone says "don't pull my leg" they want you to stop playing a joke on them; to stop telling fibs and to tell the truth. There is a sense of good humour about the whole concept, but it may not have always been so. The origin is found in a Scottish rhyme in which "draw" is used in the sense of "pull" rather than the word itself. It goes:
He preached, and at last drew the auld body's leg,
Sae the Kirk got the gatherins o' our Aunty Meg.
The suggestion in the rhyme is that Aunty Meg was hung for a crime and, at the end, the preacher pulled on her legs to ensure that she was dead.
The rather more sombre overtones of this possibility than are apparent in the British use of the phrase are mirrored in the American usage, where, I believe, there is much more a feeling of trickery and deception when the saying is used.
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Note added at 30 mins (2006-03-02 00:40:13 GMT)
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pull (someone's) leg
To play a joke on; tease or deceive.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pull leg
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Note added at 31 mins (2006-03-02 00:41:49 GMT)
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pull one's leg : to deceive someone playfully : HOAX
www.m-w.com/dictionary/pull
"To pull one's leg" means to play a trick on someone.
www.answers.com/topic/to-pull-ones-leg
If someone says "don't pull my leg" they want you to stop playing a joke on them; to stop telling fibs and to tell the truth. There is a sense of good humour about the whole concept, but it may not have always been so. The origin is found in a Scottish rhyme in which "draw" is used in the sense of "pull" rather than the word itself. It goes:
He preached, and at last drew the auld body's leg,
Sae the Kirk got the gatherins o' our Aunty Meg.
The suggestion in the rhyme is that Aunty Meg was hung for a crime and, at the end, the preacher pulled on her legs to ensure that she was dead.
The rather more sombre overtones of this possibility than are apparent in the British use of the phrase are mirrored in the American usage, where, I believe, there is much more a feeling of trickery and deception when the saying is used.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 30 mins (2006-03-02 00:40:13 GMT)
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pull (someone's) leg
To play a joke on; tease or deceive.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pull leg
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 31 mins (2006-03-02 00:41:49 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
pull one's leg : to deceive someone playfully : HOAX
www.m-w.com/dictionary/pull
"To pull one's leg" means to play a trick on someone.
www.answers.com/topic/to-pull-ones-leg
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Trudy Peters
: nice explanations, but nothing to do with "allowing." He's expecting that they will make fun of him.
1 hr
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| agree |
sergey (X)
: playfully - yes, good-natured/humoured - not always
8 hrs
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|
thank you Sergey
|
+3
1 hr
not for grading
Pulling Your Leg ( making a joke by tricking another person )
http://www.goenglish.com/PullingYourLeg.asp
pull one`s leg
- fool someone with a humorous account of something, trick someone
The man was pulling my leg when he told me that I would not be able to enter the movie theater after the movie had started.
http://www.idiomconnection.com/arm.html
http://www.goenglish.com/PullingYourLeg.asp
pull one`s leg
- fool someone with a humorous account of something, trick someone
The man was pulling my leg when he told me that I would not be able to enter the movie theater after the movie had started.
http://www.idiomconnection.com/arm.html
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Will Matter
11 hrs
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thanks, will :-)
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| agree |
Maria Chmelarova
11 hrs
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thanks, M. Ch.!
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| agree |
Elizabeth Lyons
: Thanks for your confirmation and contribution on this, Rita.
6 days
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Hi Elizabeth - I like to be precise :-)
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