AboutTed Nesbitt Expertise I have an interest in the meanings of words and phrases, as well as how and when they became part of the English language. I enjoy
researching idioms, colloquialisms, dialects, and obscurities of
all kinds. I prefer short questions on a particular subject, and
I will not accept lengthy research projects or term papers. NOTE: ALLEXPERTS CLAIMS THAT I TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LATIN AND FROM LATIN TO ENGLISH. I DO NOT. ALLEXPERTS REFUSES TO DELETE THE LATIN-TO-ENGLISH SERVICE -- ONE THAT I DO NOT PROVIDE.
TRUST ME ON THIS: ALLEXPERTS IS WRONG. I DO NOT TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LANGUAGE. LOOK FOR A LANGUAGE EXPERT INSTEAD. ETYMOLOGY AND TRANSLATING SERVICES ARE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT. ALLEXPERTS SHOULD KNOW THAT. ALLEXPERTS DOES NOT KNOW THAT. I HAVE TRIED FOR MANY YEARS TO GET THEM TO CHANGE. THEY WILL NOT. SORRY, BUT I DO NOT TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LATIN.
Experience I am the bibliographic instruction and reference librarian at a public
college. My master's thesis concerns William Faulkner's tragic novels. I formerly taught advanced placement English at two schools in the Philadelphia area.
I have been a member of the grammar and writing section of Allexperts
for more than a year.
Education/Credentials Masters degrees in English, philosophy, and library science.
Question thank you,origin:pull my leg sentence:are you pulling my leg?
Answer Bruce:
The phrase "pulling my leg" originated in England. It was first used in 1888. It means "to kid someone or to try to fool someone."
"The Oxford English Dictionary" gives this definition -- to pull (or 'draw' in Scotland) a person's leg, to impose upon, ‘get at’, befool him (colloq.). Its first appearance in WRITTEN English was this:
1888 W. B. CHURCHWARD Blackbirding 216 Then I shall be able to pull the leg of that chap Mike. He is always trying to do me.
Of course, people may have been "speaking" this phrase years before anyone ever wrote it down.
In Scotland, a variation of the phrase came before "pulling one's leg." It was to "draw" a leg.
1867 ANDERSON Rhymes 17 (E.D.D.) He preached, an' at last drew the auld body's leg, Sae the kirk got the gatherins o' our Aunty Meg.
The 1867 lines just above are from a children's verse. The preacher "drew" [pulled] the leg of Aunty Meg's "old body," to see if she was asleep or dead. She was dead, so she was buried in the graveyard of the church [the kirk].
Here is an explanation from "The Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins," by William and Mary Morris:
"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."
By the time the phrase reached the United States, it had just one meaning: to trick or fool someone. "He tried to pull my leg by telling a story that was not true."
Please take a few seconds to evaluate this answer.
