# Bешать лапшу на уши



## RhoKappa

I heard that the literal Russian translation to an English equivalent to "Are you pulling my leg?" is something to the tune of hanging spaghetti on one's ears.  Is this true?  What is the saying in Russian?


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## oleksii

It is rather noodles, not spaghetti.
Вешать лапшу на уши in russian. And yes, it is close to english "to be pulling someone's leg"


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## rusita preciosa

Yes, it does exist and is very common. *Bешать лапшу на уши*.
The meaning is more "to deceive on purpose" rather than "to play a prank / to pull one's leg".


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## Maroseika

According to the most competent version of Mokienko, лапша (noodle) meant "piece of fabric" in thieves' cant, originating from the figurative  sense of noodle - piece of fabric. Closing one's ears with the piece of fabric in order to relax his vigilance and to rob him - that's what originally meant "to hang noodles on one's ears".
Cf. AE "to pull the wool over smb's eyes" and Russian забить баки (to plaster one's eyes).
Even the very word лапша (noodle) meant 'lie' in thieves' cant (as well as many other things though).


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## RhoKappa

rusita preciosa said:


> Yes, it does exist and is very common. *Bешать лапшу на уши*.
> The meaning is more "to deceive on purpose" rather than "to play a prank / to pull one's leg".


How, then, do you say the equivalent of pulling one's leg?


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## morzh

"Вешать лапшу на уши" and "To pull one's leg" are not the same at all. Whoever told you they are the same does not understand well either the Russian or the English idiom. They both mean "deceit" but have very different attitude expressed towards it.

The former means unfriendly deceiving and expresses vexation about it, often angry one. Close to "очки втирать"
The latter often (not always but often enough) means a friendly one.

I am not sure what the best way is to translate "pull one's leg" but it is absolutely not "вешать лапшу".
"*Да ну, врешь!*" actually may be a translation for "you're pulling my leg, right?". Of course the voice inflections are important.

PS. Not important really, but "лапша" is actually "noodles". Spaghetti - usually translated as "спагетти" when talking about the Italian pasta dish, and earlier, during the Soviet times, when talking about the analogous Russian domestic product, "тонкие макароны" (think macaroni) was used, with the "спагетти", as said before, reserved for Italian cuisine; as I am not aware of the currently made pasta varieties in Russia, I don't know if there is a domestic Russian product called "спагетти".


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## carsten

morzh said:


> I am not sure what the best way is to translate "pull one's leg" but it is absolutely not "вешать лапшу".
> "*Да ну, врешь!*" actually may be a translation for "you're pulling my leg, right?". Of course the voice inflections are important.


"Прикалываешься, что ли?"


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## oleksii

morzh said:


> "Вешать лапшу на уши" and "To pull one's leg" are not the same at all. Whoever told you they are the same does not understand well either the Russian or the English idiom. They both mean "deceit" but have very different attitude expressed towards it.
> 
> The former means unfriendly deceiving and expresses vexation about it, often angry one. Close to "очки втирать"
> The latter often (not always but often enough) means a friendly one.



You are mistaken. Russian one can be used in both meanings


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## morzh

oleksii said:


> You are mistaken. Russian one can be used in both meanings



No it can't.

Even if it is not really vexed, it still carries negative attitude towards what's been said. Even if it is lazy-negative, like "кончай звиздеть". It still has the connotation of "enough of this".
The English one does not necessarily has it and can be totally friendly and carry a positive attitude.


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## cyanista

morzh said:


> "Вешать лапшу на уши" and "To pull one's leg" are not the same at all. Whoever told you they are the same does not understand well either the Russian or the English idiom. They both mean "deceit" but have very different attitude expressed towards it.
> 
> The former means unfriendly deceiving and expresses vexation about it, often angry one. Close to "очки втирать"
> The latter often (not always but often enough) means a friendly one.





oleksii said:


> You are mistaken. Russian one can be used in both meanings



I would tend to agree with oleksii.


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## morzh

cyanista said:


> I would tend to agree with oleksii.



I respectfully disagree with Oleksii.

OK. Give me one example where it is used without any negative connotation, however lazy.


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## oleksii

I'm not going to argue over this. I'm totaly sure that at least in Ukraine this idiom is used in both mranings and interpretation depends on context, intotation, gestures etc.


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## morzh

Like I said - give an example.

From what I keep hearing and reading - "кончай лапшу вешать" always carries negative connotation, that is "what you are saying is bullshit, and I know it, and you know it, so enough of that already". Just recently it was used by either Putin or Medvedev, forgot which one of the two, and it was pretty strong rebuking of someone.
I've heard lots and lots of that expression used and always the meaning was somewhat negative, between a lazy negative (OK, enough) and a strong suggestion to stop bullshitting people.

If you find me an example of fully positive or neutral usage - I will agree with you.


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## cyanista

I am not sure why it has to be fully positive. I'll just try to demonstrate using examples that вешать лапшу на уши is a valid translation possibility for be pulling someone's leg, and vice versa.



> When you trick a person into believing a lie as a way of making a joke, you are pulling their leg. Example: "Really? That store is closed on Sunday? Are you sure?" Answer: "Don't listen to him; he is just pulling your leg."
> http://www.goenglish.com/pullingyourleg.asp





> Подошел Петров, постоял немного рядом и сказал:
> - Кого вы слушаете? Мало он вас обманывал? Димка, признайся: лапшу на уши вешаешь!
> http://stepanov.h1.ru/rasskazy.htm


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## morzh

cyanista said:


> I am not sure why it has to be fully positive. I'll just try to demonstrate using examples that вешать лапшу на уши is a valid translation possibility for be pulling someone's leg, and vice versa.



Where did I say "fully positive"?
I said "give me an example of positive with "лапша на уши", as the "to pull one's legs" can be positive".
I never claimed the latter has to be always positive, and so shouldn't be the former. But it has to *be able* to be positive/neutral.


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## cyanista

morzh said:


> If you find me an example of fully positive or neutral usage - I will agree with you.



I hope to hear a few other opinions, too.


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## morzh

Here is an explanation of "to pull one's leg":

: "pull one's leg. When you pull a person's leg you are spoofing or making fun of him, *usually in a good-humored way*. But that wasn't always the meaning of the expression. When the expression first turned up in Scotland about a hundred years ago, it was lacking the lighthearted touch it has today. In those days 'pull one's leg' meant to make of fool of him, often by outright cheating. The best theory of the origin of the phrase is that by tripping a person -- pulling his leg -- you can throw him into a state of confusion and make him look very foolish indeed." From "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" by William and Mary Morris (HarperCollinsPublishers).

--

So as you can see, the today's meaning is often positive.

Now what one has to do in order to prove the "лапша на ушах" is a good Russian equivalent, is to post frequent usage examples , or a similar explanation from a dictionary or from some reputed source, that "вешать лапшу на уши" may also be used as "to make fun of someone in a good humored way".

I agree about suggested above by Carsten "прикалываться" - it is actually a good translation.
Maybe "Да ну, гонишь!".


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