What does yank my chain mean?
Idiom Meaning:
deceive someone in a playful way
Examples of this Idiom in Movies & TV Shows:
CSI: Miami “Grave Young Man” (2003)
Time of Scene:
Lieutenant Horatio Caine: You got a minute?
Detective Frank Tripp: Thirty seconds.
Lieutenant Horatio Caine: Okay. Jeff Wilton.
Detective Frank Tripp: Who?
Lieutenant Horatio Caine: Jeff Wilton is a high school kid from Homestead that disappeared three days ago.
Detective Frank Tripp: Father’s an ex-con.
Lieutenant Horatio Caine: And a concerned parent.
Detective Frank Tripp: A divorced parent. Soon as he got out, wife took off, left the kid behind. Told the neighbor she liked the guy fine enough, as long as he was in prison.
Lieutenant Horatio Caine: Okay. You think the kid did the same thing?
Detective Frank Tripp: No, I think Jeff’s in the Keys with a cheerleader. I think he’ll run out of money, stroll back in a couple of days with a hickey on his neck and a smile on his face.
Lieutenant Horatio Caine: What if he doesn’t?
Detective Frank Tripp: Well, I’ve got twelve confirmed dead yanking my chain right now.
Lieutenant Horatio Caine: So you’re not interested in the kid unless he’s dead?
Detective Frank Tripp: You know what I mean.
Monk “Mr. Monk and the Sleeping Suspect” (2003)
Time of Scene:
Captain Leland Stottlemeyer: Dwayne, don’t yank my chain.
Dwayne: Look, I told you, I haven’t seen him.
Captain Leland Stottlemeyer: He’s your cousin, he’s your best friend.
Dwayne: Yeah, and I don’t know where he is!
Captain Leland Stottlemeyer: Dwayne, do I look like an idiot to you?
Dwayne: Yeah, you sort of do.
Lt. Randall Disher: Oh, that’s a mistake. You don’t want to make him angry. I made him angry once, and you don’t want to do that.
L. A. Law “Where There’s a Will” (1993)
Time of Scene: n/a
Frank Osgood: When the guard said you were here, I thought he was yanking my chain.
Leland McKenzie: Daniel Morales and I have found a witness. He’ll testify that he saw Tice at the murder scene. Not you. The court’s re-opening your case.
Frank Osgood: I told you I was innocent.
Leland McKenzie: I can’t begin to express my regrets.
Frank Osgood: You know how many time’s I’ve dreamed of getting close enough to you so I could. In the time it would take that guard to walk through the door, I could snap your neck like a chicken bone.
Leland McKenzie: You won’t.
Frank Osgood: How can you be so sure?
Leland McKenzie: You’re not a killer.
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