“Tomar el pelo” means “to pull someone’s leg”.
Literally “to take someone’s hair”. It means to tease or trick someone, usually as a joke: ¿Me estás tomando el pelo? = Are you pulling my leg?
English pulls your leg. Spanish takes your hair. Same joke, different body part. If a Spaniard tells you something that sounds too good (or too crazy) to be true, this is the phrase you need.
How Spaniards use “tomar el pelo”
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¿Te ha tocado la lotería? ¿Me estás tomando el pelo? | You won the lottery? Are you pulling my leg? |
| No te creas nada, te está tomando el pelo. | Don’t believe a word, he’s pulling your leg. |
| Me tomaron el pelo en el taller: 400 euros por nada. | They ripped me off at the garage: 400 euros for nothing. |
| Deja de tomarme el pelo. | Stop messing with me. |
As you can see in the third example, it’s not always a joke. Tomar el pelo can also mean to take advantage of someone or to rip them off.
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In Spain you’ll hear two other ways to say the same thing, especially among young people:
- ¿Te estás quedando conmigo? = Are you winding me up? (literally “are you staying with me?”)
- Vacilar = to tease, to mess with someone: No me vaciles. = Don’t mess with me.
And the answer, when it was a joke: ¡Es broma! (I’m joking!) or ¡Que no, hombre, que es coña! (very informal, Spain).
Similar expressions
| Expression | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Quedarse con alguien | To wind someone up (Spain) |
| Vacilar | To tease, to mess with (Spain) |
| Gastar una broma | To play a joke |
| Es broma | I’m joking |
| Ser un cachondo | To be a joker (Spain, informal) |
| Engañar | To trick, to deceive |
FAQ
Is “tomar el pelo” rude?
No, it’s completely safe. Informal, but you can use it with anyone.
Is it used in Latin America?
Yes, tomar el pelo is understood and used in most Spanish-speaking countries.
How do you say “I’m just kidding” in Spanish?
¡Es broma! or ¡Estoy de broma!
More Spanish expressions from Spain
Part of my series on real Spanish expressions, the ones Spaniards use every day and textbooks never teach:
- Estar como una cabra
- Ponerse las pilas
- Costar un ojo de la cara
- No pasa nada
- ¡Qué fuerte!
- Estar hecho polvo
- Me importa un pepino
- Ser pan comido
- Estar en las nubes
- Meter la pata
- Dar la lata
- Echar una mano
- En el quinto pino
- Ojalá
- Venga
- Eres la leche
- Toma tomate, tómalo
👉 See all Spanish expressions from Spain
Understanding jokes is the final level
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