Pull Someone’s Leg
To pull someone’s leg is to tease or trick them into believing something untrue as a joke. The reviewed histories disagree on how early secure printed evidence should be placed, while a famous supposed 1821 diary example is rejected as a later fake.
It means to jokingly deceive or tease someone. Phrase Finder reports a clear 1883 newspaper example; Grammarphobia reports an earlier 1859 occurrence. Neither source establishes the popular hanging-related origin story.
Key details
What the evidence supports
Clear printed use is documented in the nineteenth century, with reviewed specialist sources reporting examples between 1859 and 1883.
Grammarphobia reports 1859; Phrase Finder reports 1883 and describes the idiom as then needing explanation.
The idiom comes from pulling the legs of people being hanged.
The reviewed specialist sources do not establish this popular execution story.
Documented timeline
- 1859
Earlier occurrence reported
Grammarphobia reports an 1859 novel occurrence that predates the 1883 examples cited by other histories.
- 1883
Clear newspaper use reported
Phrase Finder reports an Ohio newspaper explaining “pulling your leg” as telling preposterous lies.
Unresolved evidence
Earliest reported nineteenth-century occurrence
Grammarphobia reports an 1859 example; Phrase Finder reports 1883 as its earliest genuine example. This site does not convert that difference into a false exact first-use claim.
Variants
Current Cambridge form.
Meaning over time
Joking deception/teasing
Try to make someone believe an untrue statement as a joke.
Further guidance
Chronology Conflict
Phrase Finder’s earliest located genuine example is from 1883, while Grammarphobia reports an 1859 novel occurrence. The engine preserves that source difference rather than declaring an absolute first use.
Contextual Examples
Relax—I was only pulling your leg about the surprise inspection.
She thought the story was real until he admitted he had been pulling her leg.
Meaning
Cambridge labels the idiom informal and defines it as trying to make someone believe something untrue as a joke.
Meaning Boundary
The core meaning is playful deception/teasing; the reviewed evidence does not justify repeating popular hanging-related origin stories as established fact.
Origin Myth Boundary
A purported much-earlier Gallatin diary use is tied to a diary now regarded as fake, and execution/hanging stories remain unsupported in the reviewed evidence.
Practical Use
Use it when someone jokingly deceives or teases another person by trying to make them believe something untrue.
Tone Boundary
Informal and playful; avoid it when the joke could be mistaken for a serious accusation or in high-stakes communication.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- Pull someone’s leg — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Current meaning and informal register
- Pulling One’s Leg — meaning and origin (opens in a new tab)The Phrase Finder · Reported 1883 chronology and fake-diary/origin-story audit
- The leg-pulling legacies (opens in a new tab)Grammarphobia · Reported earlier chronology and OED comparison