Como falo em inglês: Tô só te sacaneando

By Ana | Podcast Inglês Online

Oct 03
Como falo em inglês Tô só te sacaneando

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Hi, all. Nesse episódio do podcast Inglês Online eu vou falar sobre expressões em inglês com a palavra leg.

Transcrição

Hey, what’s up? Today we have a new episode of the inglesonline podcast. Please subscribe to this podcast using the Podcasts app for iPhone or iPad, or listen to the episodes using the Inglesonline Android app. To download or just listen to other episodes and download transcripts, go to inglesonline.com.br and click Podcast Inglesonline.

he's pulling your legSo here’s an expression I’ve been hearing a lot here in England: pull someone’s leg. What does that mean? Picture this: you and your friends are discussing your plans for next weekend. It looks like you guys are going to the beach. So one of your friends, Barry, has a car, and he’s gonna drive. Barry has promised you a ride. If Barry doesn’t give you a ride, there’s no way you’ll get to that beach, and Barry knows that.

So Barry turns to you and says “Oh, you know what…? I forgot to tell you. I’m taking my sisters to the hairdresser’s on my way to the beach… the car will be full. Sorry!” You cannot believe what you just heard. Barry had promised you a ride to the beach. You’ll have to stay home now, while all your friends enjoy a sunny weekend at the beach. You can barely hide your disappointment when Barry says, laughing “Please don’t cry. I’m just pulling your leg. I’ll pick you up at eight.”

So Barry was pulling your leg. He was messing with you. He was joking. When someone’s pulling your leg, they’re usually saying something that is not true; or they’re pretending to feel a certain way, but only as a joke. So you believe what they’re saying or you believe they feel that way, and you get disappointed, or embarrassed, or upset and so on. And that is when the other person usually says “I’m pulling your leg”. I’m just joking; I didn’t mean that. I’m sure all of you know someone who does that all the time. Some people enjoy pulling other people’s legs and they’ll do it whenever they get a chance. Can you remember the last time you pulled someone’s leg? What about the last time someone pulled your leg?

And here’s another interesting expression with leg… Break a leg. Doesn’t it sound just weird to say “Break a leg!” to anyone? Why would you say that? Well, because you’re wishing them good luck. Yep, when you say “Break a leg” you’re wishing that person luck. I did some research on the origin of the expression, and it seems like some actors believed that if you said “Good luck” to them – that would bring them bad luck, actually. So they started saying something that sounds like the opposite, right? I mean, you wish that someone will break a leg – that’s not exactly like wishing them good luck. It’s like you’re wishing them bad luck. For some reason, some actors felt more comfortable wishing each other bad luck rather than good luck, and the expression caught on.

We could say that these actors were superstitious people, right? They believed that if you wished someone “Good luck”, something bad was actually going to happen. That’s a superstition, I would say. What’s your opinion about this? Are you a superstitious person? Let us know in the comments, and talk to you next time!

Key expressions

  • pull (someone’s) leg
  • break a leg

Glossary

a ride = uma carona

the expression caught on = a expressão pegou

Ana
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Thayná 24/10/2013

I will not deny that in some situations I’m superstitious, but I prefer to believe in the power of thought and not just the word

Vera Graña 18/10/2013

Hi Ana!

As I’m not a superticious, i would say: God Luck! instead Break a leg…sounds weird to me…
Actually, I hate people that want pushing my leg.

Luis 17/10/2013

Thank you,

Your Website is helping me a lot.

Keep the good work.

Catengsboy 07/10/2013

it was good for me and i hope that to others too

Igor 04/10/2013

Hi Ana. I liked so much this podcast. I just found out your website today and it has many cool stuff. Your podcasts are helping me a lot to improve my listening.

Jennifer 04/10/2013

Hi , Ana !!I love pull my daughter leg, because she ALWAYS believed what other people saying.She never, ever learnes.So is pretty fun doing it with her.But after that I got a little bit bad mood to deal with.But worth it , anyway.PLease,correct my mistakes.KISSES!!!

Caroline 04/10/2013

I really, really liked this podcast, Ana! Thank you so much!!! You rock, as always! :)

Elaine 04/10/2013

Sometimes, when I am in the good mood, I pull my sister´s leg. Picture this (I learned this expression with you!): she asks me to take something, an object for her and I do it, but when I meet her and she asks if I brought what she wanted, I say “Sorry, I forgot it”. Then, when she starts getting disappointed, I tell that I´m joking, I´m just pulling her leg, rsrs.
About the other expression, I don´t consider myself a superstitious person, so I wish good things when someone is about to present something, for example. If it´s an actor, I say “Break you leg” smiling, kidding….

Gi 04/10/2013

I’m not a superstitious person, but I have something with the number 1 and 3 and their arrangement. Everything in my life have happened in days like 13, 31, 1 or 3. And I don’t know why?

Fátima Regina 03/10/2013

No, I am not a superstitious person, because I have God in my life. I think that people who believe in Gog don’t believe on it.

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