You're Pulling My What?! In Japan...

You are pulling my leg!

Believe it or not, there is a similar phrase in Japanese, but does it mean what you think it means?

Let's try a Japanese quiz!

足を引っ張る

What does this mean?

◆ Vocabulary Hint

足(あし）　leg, foot

引（ひ）っ張（ぱ）る　to pull

Choose the correct meaning for this phrase.

Select the answer from choices 1～ 3 below.

① to interfere with the success of others
② to tease or joke with someone
③ to stop someone doing bad things

答えは・・・The answer is・・・

①　to Interfere with the success of others

◆ Today's expression

足を引っ張る
To Interfere with the success of others

Example Sentences

1) 彼はプロジェクトの進行を妨げるためにわざと情報を隠し、チームメンバーの足を引っ張った。
He deliberately hid information to hinder the progress of the project and held back his team members.

2) 新入社員が仕事の流れを理解するのを手助けするべきなのに、上司が彼を無視して意図的に足を引っ張った。
Instead of helping the new employee understand the workflow, the boss ignored him and intentionally held him back.

◆ Vocabulary Hint

進行（しんこう）　progress

妨（さまた）げる　to hinder

情報（じょうほう）　information

新入社員（しんにゅうしゃいん）　 new employee

上司（じょうし）boss

無視（むし）する　to ignore

意図的（いとてき）に　intentionally