/toˈmaɾ el ˈpelo/ lit. ‘take someone’s hair’
Spanish idiom, colloquial. To tease someone by telling them something untrue as a joke.
Draft Not yet checked by a native Spanish speaker.
How do people use Tomar el pelo
?
Colloquial but not rude, heard everywhere from family dinners to the office. The person being teased goes in front as an indirect object: “me estás tomando el pelo” (you’re pulling my leg), “le tomaron el pelo”. The noun “una tomadura de pelo” means a joke at someone’s expense, or a rip-off.
Also said tomar del pelo
Tomar el pelo
in real sentences
-
Me estás tomando el pelo.
You’re pulling my leg.
Tatoeba, sentence by wallebot, translation by wallebot, CC BY 2.0 FR
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¡No me tomes el pelo!
Don’t pull my leg!
Tatoeba, sentence by qdii, translation by CM, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Tomar el pelo
come from?
Spanish Wiktionary marks the origin as uncertain, and its definition leans on Emiliano de Arriaga’s 1896 dictionary of Bilbao speech, which shows the phrase was in use by then. English Wiktionary mentions a possible link to an old prank of pulling off someone’s wig, and flags it with a “maybe”. Treat the wig story as a guess.
Mistakes learners make with Tomar el pelo
Adding a possessive, as in “tomar mi pelo”. Spanish uses the object pronoun and the article: “me tomas el pelo”.
Other Spanish idioms like Tomar el pelo
Spot a mistake in Tomar el pelo
?
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