Meaning
To tease or mislead someone playfully, telling them something untrue as a joke rather than to harm them. Almost always used in the progressive or passive, as in 'Are you pulling my leg?' or 'I was only pulling your leg'. Informal, friendly register; signals benign teasing rather than deception with intent to harm. Regional use: General English.
Origin
The Phrase Finder traces the phrase to the 19th century and notes that, despite sounding British, the early evidence is American: the earliest genuine citation is from the Newark Daily Advocate (Ohio) of February 1883, which felt the need to explain that it was fashionable to say a liar had been 'pulling your leg' - the gloss itself suggesting the expression was new. A supposed 1821 use in the James Gallatin diary is generally accepted to be a fake. The Grammarphobia blog, citing the OED, gives an earliest citation of 20 February 1883, a diary entry by Augustus Hare describing it as schoolboy slang. Colourful backstories about street thieves tripping victims by pulling their legs, or about crowds pulling the legs of the hanged at Tyburn, are folk etymology with no supporting evidence.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- leg-pulling
- pull one's leg
- pulling my leg
Usage Examples
- He told her the meeting was cancelled, then laughed and admitted he was pulling her leg.
- When the twins claimed they had adopted a horse, their mother assumed they were pulling her leg.
- Surely you are pulling my leg - the exam cannot really be open-book.