Meaning & use
pulling my leg
Last updated
Meaning
phraseidiominformal
Playfully telling someone something untrue to see whether they will believe it.
Grammar: Possessive changes with the person: pulling my/your/his leg; the verb is usually pull, pulled or pulling.
Patterns
- pull someone's leg
- you're pulling my leg
You won a free trip? You're pulling my leg!
I wasn't serious, I was only pulling your leg.
He said he had met the president, but I think he was pulling my leg.
Word forms
| third person singular | pulls my leg |
|---|---|
| past tense | pulled my leg |
| past participle | pulled my leg |
| -ing form | pulling my leg |
Common combinations
- are you pulling my leg
- Are you pulling my leg, or did you really quit?
- only pulling your leg
- Relax, I was only pulling your leg.
- pull someone's leg about
- They pulled her leg about her new haircut.
- you must be pulling my leg
- Free tickets for everyone? You must be pulling my leg.
Synonyms and how they differ
- kidding
- Kidding is shorter and more common in everyday talk, while pulling my leg sounds a little more playful and idiomatic.
- teasing
- Teasing can be unkind or about someone's flaws, while pulling a leg is about a harmless false story.
- joking
- Joking is the plain, neutral word, while pulling my leg specifically suggests a trick that someone might believe.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: pulling my leg or breaking a leg?
pulling my leg vs breaking a leg
Break a leg is what you say to wish a performer good luck. It has nothing to do with joking.
Practice
Your friend says he has met a famous singer and you doubt it. Which reply fits?
Choose one answer.
Pulling my leg is the idiom for playfully saying something untrue. The other options are not idioms with that meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pulling my leg”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.