Meaning
To pressure or persuade someone into doing something they were reluctant to do. Now usually jocular, describing friendly coaxing rather than real coercion ('I didn't want dessert, but he twisted my arm'); the literal threat is gone from everyday use. Informal; usually light and self-deprecating in the first person, but can imply real pressure when used about institutions. Regional use: General English.
Origin
Literal arm-twisting as a painful compliance hold long predates the idiom, familiar from wrestling and playground scuffles. The figurative sense - to exert pressure on someone - is dated by the Online Etymology Dictionary to 1945, which notes 'to twist (someone's) arm' in the sense of pressuring someone to do something is attested 'by 1945'. Merriam-Webster first records the noun 'arm-twisting' in 1924, somewhat earlier. Idiom references generally describe the phrase as mid-twentieth-century American colloquial in origin, which fits the citation record, though the earliest documented uses carry no story beyond the obvious physical image. The modern softened use, claiming reluctance where none existed, is a later development of tone rather than meaning.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- arm-twisting
- have your arm twisted
- twisted my arm
Usage Examples
- The board had to twist the chairman's arm before he agreed to publish the report.
- You didn't need to twist my arm to visit the printing museum - I've wanted to go for years.
- After some gentle arm-twisting, the volunteers agreed to run one more stall at the fair.