Pulling Your Leg Joke
This is a true story, it really happened to me. Okay umm this one time during spring break, I went out to dinner with my friends Mary and Lindsey to this Mexican restaurant in DC called La Mila Dos. We were there eating tacos and nachos or whatever and I got up to go to the bathroom with my friend Mary. And when we came out of the bathroom there was this guy standing right there and hes like, um listen, um and also it was weird because I noticed he had been staring at um Mary for like the whole time and it was kind of sketchy hes like, listen, I dont want to like weird you out but you look exactly like my umm recently passed daughter I was like well thats awkward umm because he said this to Mary, I was like uhhh okay, and he was like, yeah umm god I miss her so much, and he just started talking about how much he missed her, it was really awkward and umm Mary has like a bleeding heart and shes like ohh Im so sorry. She asked how she died, all that stuff so umm anyways then the guy was like, Okay listen, god dont think Im a weirdo, but when I leave, can I say goodbye Silvia, Silvia was his dead daughters name, and will you say goodbye dad back to me? And I was like is that legal, that is like so weird like so sketchy, but Mary was like, okay, whatever you need. Because he was like, yeah, because I need some closure, like I never got to say goodbye to her, she died in a car crash.
So, we go back to our table and were finishing up her tacos and umm the guy walks by and is like, Goodbye Silvia, and Mary was like, Bye dad. Then he leaves, yeah it was really weird. Um so then uh then we finish eating , the waiter comes and brings the uhh check and we notice theres an extra meal on it and were like, yeahh wait we didnt get Tacos Rancheros. And shes like, no no no no no um your father said to just put it on your tab that you said you know you said you were going to pay for it. Im like, uh no our father is not here. And shes like oh yeah the guy that just left, you said goodbye dad. And were like, NO that is not our actual father that was like some guy that like well we cant explain the story its weird, but that was not our father. So Marys getting freaked out, Im like umm Im not paying for this fucking Tacos Rancheros, Im not like Im not paying for this hes not my dad. So um so uh me and Lindsey, whos a sprinter, takes off out the door cause the guy only left like five minutes ago, and starts running down the street, Marys like almost sobbing, cause this is just so scary, we also didnt have the extra money for it. Um, I ran after Lindsey to make sure um she doesnt kill the guy umm who like did this, scammed us I guess. And umm Lindsey like hops over a bike rack like and this guys getting on the bus and we see him like up ahead like on Connecticut and Western and um and hes getting on the bus. So Lindsey kind of like does this like leap over the bike rack and like grabs on to the guys leg as hes getting onto the bus. And shes pulling his leg, and pulling his leg .just like Im pulling yours right now.
The informant likes to tell this joke after she gets back from long trips, where her friends havent seen her in awhile and claim that this really happened to her while away, in the end revealing that the story is completely made up. She claims the story is just for fun and believable enough that she can actually string people along for awhile.
I think its interesting how the joke ends with a folk metaphor. This punch line really makes the joke. The story connects the psychical action of pulling on someones leg with the metaphorical meaning of pulling someones leg to mean tricking them, or deceiving them. Someone who does not know this folk metaphor, would then not get the joke.