Feifei Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I’m Feifei…
Rob … and hello, I’m Rob. So Feifei, how was your holiday – did you go anywhere special?
Feifei Yes, I did. I went walking.
Rob Very healthy. And where did you go?
Feifei Oh, I walked up Mount Everest…. It was tough and cold but I made it.
Rob Oh… You walked up Mount Everest – the highest mountain in the world? Are you sure?
Feifei You don’t think I’m fit enough to do it, do you?
Rob Come on Feifei, you’re pulling my leg.
Feifei I’m not even touching you.
Rob No, I don’t mean you’re actually pulling my leg – I mean you’re lying aren’t you? You’re joking with me?
Feifei You think I’m not telling the truth – I’m tricking you? But am I?!
Rob Come on Feifei, stop teasing me – you didn’t do it did you?
Feifei I did. I’ll show you some photos. But let me hear some more examples of the phrase in action first…
Examples A: So I got to the restaurant and sat down at my table and guess who was sitting on the next table – George Clooney!
B: You’re pulling my leg!
I was pulling his leg when I said I was going to marry Jenny but he believed me and bought me a present!
Oh stop pulling my leg – you can’t have won the lottery, you didn’t even buy a ticket!
Feifei So to pull someone’s leg means to fool or trick them but in a fun way. Look at this photo Rob, you can see how much snow there was on Everest – and look, there’s me on top.
Rob Hold on – this is a trick photo – you had this taken in one of those photo-booths where you stand in front of a big screen. You’re not pulling my leg!
Feifei Ooo… ouch… actually…
Rob It looks like you’ve pulled something in your own leg – a muscle, maybe? Who’s the fool now?
Feifei Ok, I didn’t walk up Everest. I was teasing you but you almost believed me!
Rob Didn’t.
Feifei Did!
Rob Did not.
Feifei Did.