Tomadura de pelo

[chileno]

Originally Posted by poli

Orson Welles' radio broadcast of the "War of the Worlds" was a very famous hoax.

Stories of Loch Ness monster or flying saucer sightings are generally seen as hoaxes.

Are they not a tomadura de pelo?

I know I'm splitting hairs (pardon the pun) but let me know if the term me estás tomando el pelo means something different than una tomadura de pelo. For some reason I suspect it does, but I'm a foreigner.

Yes, that would qualify as being a tomadura de pelo.

But I was under the impression that Orson Wells was doing a practical joke for Halloween, which also qualifies as tomadura de pelo.

To me a hoax in more connected to fraud, or that has been my impression of what a hoax is.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Originally Posted by poli

[..]let me know if the term me estás tomando el pelo means something different than una tomadura de pelo. For some reason I suspect it does, but I'm a foreigner.

Yes, they do mean the same.

Compré unos boletos para la ópera y fueron una tomadura de pelo. / Compré unos boletos para la ópera y me tomaron el pelo. -> The tickets for the opera were fake.

Las historias de OVNIS sobre la ciudad son una tomadura de pelo. / ¿A ti también te tomaron el pelo diciéndote que había OVNIS sobre la ciudad? -> Someone lied saying there were UFOs flying over the city.

No me tomes el pelo: ¿de verdad te vas a casar? / Eso de que te vas a casar es una tomadura de pelo. -> I don't believe you are actually getting married, I suspect you're lying.

Esa crema para las arrugas es una tomadura de pelo. / Me tomaron el pelo vendiéndome una crema para las arrugas. -> Someone sold me an anti-wrinkle cream that doesn't work.

Stanford le tomó el pelo a sus inversionistas y se escapó con su dinero. / Las inversiones de Stanford eran una tomadura de pelo. -> Stanford stole people's money through fake investments.

Juan, te están tomando el pelo, no les creas lo que te dicen. / Juan, lo que te están diciendo es una tomadura de pelo. -> Juan, do not believe any of what they're saying, it's a lie.

[poli]

Thanks Angélica. Your examples show the fine nuance of language.

Chileno, a hoax can be a scam, but a scam is not always a hoax. Scam almost always implies stealing. While a hoax may involve larceny, it also may not.

[chileno]

Originally Posted by poli

Thanks Angélica. Your examples show the fine nuance of language.

Chileno, a hoax can be a scam, but a scam is not always a hoax. Scam almost always implies stealing. While a hoax may involve larceny, it also may not.

Right.

I understand all of this, but what I am trying to get, and I just realized of this, is that pulling your leg and tomarte el pelo are more familiar than hoax and engañar, and I think this is what I've been trying to express.

[Perikles]

I've just seen this in a local Canarian newspaper. The context is that local businesses demand 165 million euros for some construction work, and the local government has allocated just one million. Their reaction is reported as

El Círculo de Empresarios del Norte de Tenerife tacha de "tomadura de pelo" la partida de un millón de euros para el nuevo muelle del Puerto de la Cruz que figura en el proyecto de ley de presupuesto del Gobierno de Canarias para 2012.

This is neither a scam nor a hoax, but just something totally ridiculous.

[poli]

Thanks for this, Perikles. I think that if English had a commonly used similar expression, it would take on different meanings depending on the circumstance as well. I know the noun phrase a pulling of the leg is an expression that hasn't been used much in the past, and I for one won't promote it in the future.

[chileno]

That's it. For me "tomar el pelo" = bromear = joking/kidding etc

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

The idea here is saying they're making fun of them.
The expression can mean to "to banter", "to tease", "to mock" someone mostly with a fake intention.

"A la falsa intención de pago, le aumentan la burla", would be my immediate reaction toward the piece of news.