Pull the wool over eyes

Meaning

"Pull the wool over someone's eyes" is an idiom that means to deceive or trick someone into believing something that is not true. It can also refer to convincing someone of something by using persuasive language, rather than presenting facts. The idiom likely originated from a children's game in which one person tries to pull the wool over another person's eyes while they are blindfolded.

Usage

• "I pulled the wool over my coworker's eyes by convincing them that I was working on a difficult project."
• "My boss tried to pull the wool over our team's eyes about the true state of our company's finances."
• "The politician pulled the wool over the voter's eyes with their smooth talking and promises of change."
• "I accidentally pulled the wool over my friend's eyes by forgetting to tell them it was a joke."
• "I was skeptical at first, but the salesperson managed to pull the wool over my eyes by giving me a discount."

Roots and History

The earliest known use of this idiom can be traced back to William Shakespeare's play "The Taming of the Shrew" in 1594, where Petruchio says, "I will pull her out of her conceit." However, it is likely that the phrase has been used in English for much longer than that. The idiom may have also influenced other languages, such as French ("enrouler les yeux"), German ("die Augen aufziehen"), and Italian ("schiacciare l'occhio").

Synonyms in English

• Convince
• Deceive
• Trick
• Fool
• Lead astray

Synonyms in other languages

• French: "enrouler les yeux" (to pull the wool over someone's eyes)
• German: "die Augen aufziehen" (to pull the wool over someone's eyes)
• Italian: "schiacciare l'occhio" (to deceive or trick)
• Spanish: "engañar" (to deceive or trick)
• Portuguese: "enganar" (to deceive or trick)

Similar Idioms

• get over it

• play cat and mouse

• dead in the water