Pull The Other One With Bells On

You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it. I’m Grant Barrett.

And I’m Martha Barnette. In English, if you want to express skepticism about something somebody’s telling you, you might say, stop pulling my leg, or pull the other one, it’s got bells on, which are a couple of phrases I really like. But there are really picturesque phrases in other languages that express that same kind of skepticism. One of my favorites is, ahora cuéntame una de vaqueros, which is Spanish for now tell me one about cowboys. Enough of your tall tales. Tell me one about cowboys.

And in Tagalog, there’s a phrase that literally translates as you’re making a rope out of sand, which I also really like.

Oh, that’s lovely.

In French, you might say, which basically means stop with your salads, which I think refers to the idea of just a mishmash of ideas that you’re throwing around. And, of course, Missouri, where I’m from, you might say, I’m from Missouri. You’re going to have to show me.

Oh, right. The show me state.

I like stop your salads. Enough with them already. Stop with your salads.

Wherever you are in the world, we know that you’ve got a way to tell people to stop with the nonsense. What is the way that you tell them to shush?

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