17. Are You Putting Me On?

There are a number of phrases built on the word "put", such as put by, put for, put out, put across, put over and so on and so forth. The expression "putting one on" is among them. You tell a person something that he finds difficult to believe, and he may look at you more closely and ask: "Are you putting me on?" He doesn't think you are serious. Perhaps, you are joking with him, teasing him, trying to test his reaction.

The expression putting one on is closest to the phrase to put one over on a person, meaning to trick, to deceive him. However, in certain light situations, many will not say to you: "Stop trying to put one over on me", they will say: "Stop putting me on." In other words, stop trying to set him up for one of your jokes or little tricks. And when one accuses you of putting him on, he is generally not as serious as he might be if he accuses you of trying to put one over on him.

People who try to put you on are more often just joking, having some pleasant friendly fun. But one who is trying to put something over on you is not to be taken so lightly and usually he is not.

There are people who like to play practical jokes on friends, to put them on in strange ways, some funny, some not. This is especially true on April 1st, April Fool's Day. Year after year, numbers of people let themselves be fooled by the same joke. They just forget what had happened to them the year before. One of these often repeated jokes is a telephone call. The caller changes his voice and says to his friend: "Hello, is this Mr. Jones? I have an important message for you from Mr. Fox. It is urgent. Please call him at this number." The caller then gives his friend the telephone number of the National Zoo.

Unthinkingly, the friend quickly makes his call and says: "Hello, I must speak to Mr. Fox. It is urgent."

The man on the other end says: "Who?"

"Mr. Fox. I don't know his first name. Please hurry?"

The man at the other end answers: "We have no Mr. Fox here." Then he realizes it is a joke and one he has heard before. And he begins to laugh and says: "Look, friend, this is the zoo. Somebody is pulling your leg, putting you on."

"Good God!" you said to yourself: "What an idiot I am!" But you think about it and you can not help getting a laugh out of the whole episode.