My thanks to 花帥。 I got the idea for this piece from this week's "一句話翻譯“。
The conversation below is fictional. Its only purpose is to string together a few usages of the word “pull”in the hope that learning them would be fun. Test yourself by reading it. Maybe, just maybe, you'll manage to pick up a new usage or two along the way. If you find you already know all of them, well, hopefully the reading itself proves to be a bit fun.
It was a lot of fun writing it. I had planned a longer piece. But somethings fell through. For one thing, I had always thought Giuliani bore a bit of resemblance to Dante and thought I could somehow include the stolen death masks of Dante in the narrative. I dropped that idea when I found out the death masks are fake. I was also "disappointed" when I read that T did not really wear his pants backward. :) I had also thought I could weave some 美語世界 denizens into the story but, alas, there weren't enough "pull" idioms to dispense with once the conversation veered off from the election. Oh, well, next time. Have a blast.
T: What do you mean I've lost? The campaign is over? You are pulling my leg, aren't you?
P: No Sir, not your leg, they've pulled the plug on your campaign.
T: Oh, I hate this. Why pull the plug? There are so many other things they could have pulled.
P: Like what?
T: Well, like pulling someone's chain.
P: I see. Were you pulling his chain when you told Giuliani you'd pay him his fees?
T: Of course! He looked like he was sweating hair dye in that courtroom and made all of us look bad. How can a lawyer pull a stunt like that and expect to pull down any money?
P: Given how things were going, I never expected him to pull a rabbit out of a hat.
T: Well, I thought he could at least pull some strings with those judges I appointed. But he couldn't pull off even just one win.
P: You have a point. The thing is, we tried our best. I pulled my weight anyway.
T: Aw, I hope you didn't pull a muscle while doing it. You pulling your weight！ If you had come up with something like “I know Jack Kennedy and you are no Jack Kennedy” during your debate, we'd have pulled away for victory.
P: With due respect, Sir, but if you had pulled those facemask haters down a notch or two, we'd sure have won.
T: Oh, no, that won't do. They are my power base. Untouchable. Without them, we'd have to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. Impossible in politics. I have to give a press conference now. You wait here.
P: Yes, Sir. Give it to them. Don't pull your punches.
……
T: Whew, it's done. Last one before my 2024 reelection. Something fishy though. Some of them kept snickering, and the one from Fox News looked like he was in pain, like he was trying to pull his own teeth or something.
P: Eh, Sir. I'm not trying to pull your leg or anything, but from where I stand, it looks like you are wearing your pants backward.
T: No way! Let's see. No, they are not backward. Ridiculous! If I had pulled up my pants the wrong way, who do you think pulled up my zipper?
P: Oh, this is bad, very bad. They pull everything to pieces. They are going to make hay out of this. These people can pull anything out of thin air. I think we need to give the reporters a formal clarification; tell them you pulled up your pants the right way; tell them you did your own zipper.
T: Do you hear yourself? A formal clarification on how the president pulls up his pants! I'd really be the laughingstock.
P: What shall we do then. This is a bad omen. How are we going to pull through this one? This can doom our chances for 2024!
T: Oh, pull yourself together. Stop pulling your hair out, will you! We are not done yet. We are going to run in 2024. This time, we'll pull out all the stops. We are not going to pull our punches. We'll do whatever it takes. We'll pull a hoax on them. We'll pull the wool over their eyes.
P: You won't ask me to do it, though; pulling a hoax on people?
T: Please, don't pull a long face. You won't be the one; you can't pull it off anyway. We are going to hire Giuliani. He's capable of pulling a fast one; he'll do whatever it takes, trust me.
P: So you are going to ask Giuliani to pull the chestnuts out of the fire for you. Are you going to pay him this time?
T: Oh, yes, he'll get paid if he pulls his weight.
P: You think MM is going to help pull us through? We don't have a lot of pull with him now.
T: We had to pull teeth to secure his loyalty, and he pulled a disappearing act at the end. If we can't pull him off the fence to help us, I'm going to pull the carpet from under his feet; I'm going to tell my folks in the Senate to vote him out.
P: Are you going to pull your entire family into this 2024 effort?
T: Of course. We are all going to pull in the same direction, and we are going to win. I'm going to pull in my daughter, my son-in-law, my sons, my wife … Would you quit pulling my coattails？ I'm on a roll here.
P: Yes, Sir, but the moving company's truck has just pulled in.
T: Why are they here? Go tell them to get lost. You can pull rank on them.
P: Yes, Sir, but they are here to move you out of the White House. They are here to pull the plug on your administration, if you will.
T: Oh, I see, time to pull up stakes. Well, guess what. I've thought of something I can do till 2024. I'm going over to 美語世界 to preside over their One-Sentence-Per-Week Translation Program.
P: Yes, Sir. Just a test on the usage of “pull” in idioms will probably last till 2024. Very popular, that program. It's going to help you pull in votes.
T: Well then, can I still pull rank on you?
P: Yes, Sir.
T: Go tell Giuliani, he's fired.
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