[SEL] Pull your chain ? OT

Arnie Fero fero_ah at city-net.com
Fri Feb 4 08:02:04 PST 2011


Here's one...

Meaning: To take advantage of someone in an unfair way to do something to annoy
someone; to tease or needle someone just to get a reaction from them.

Origin: This North American slang originated in the 1980s as an expression for
someone who is trying to annoy or get a reaction from someone else. Feisty,
formidable Charlotte Whitton, the former mayor of Ottawa, was introduced to the
mayor of London, England. He was bedecked in all the medals and chains of his
office, while she had only a flower in her lapel. "There was something fitting,
about this, wasn’t there," the London mayor asked. "After all, what was Ottawa, a
city of 600,000, compared to London, twelve million?" He leaned forward and said
most haughtily, “If I sniff your rose, will you blush?” Charlotte replied, “And if I
pull your chain, will you flush?”



On Fri, February 4, 2011 10:06 am, jlb94 at juno.com wrote:
> Hi list -
> In reading this thread I saw the term, "Pull your chain".
> Who knows where the term "Pull Your Chain - or - Pull My Chain, came from ?





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