When we want to express "deception" in English, are there words such as deceive, cheat and trick?
To give a few examples:
— How could you let that woman deceive you?
—How can you let that woman be fooled?
— Cheat the earth and the earth will cheat you.
-You deceive the world, and the world will deceive you.
— I was tricked into signing the contract.
— I was tricked into signing that contract.
In fact, there is a more authentic phrase that has the same meaning as the three words above:
— Pull a fast one
This is an informal slang term that originated in the United States approximately in the first half of the 20th century. It is said to come from card games. Many cards or mahjong are involved in gambling. If a person wants to cheat (we Chinese people like to call it "Chi Lao Qian"), then he will try to shuffle the cards in a way that is beneficial to him. One way is to quickly The good cards are placed on the top or bottom, and when the cards are dealt, the good cards are dealt to yourself. So in order to cheat, he needs to pull (pull, draw) from the card fast.
The early usage of this slang term appeared in the novel Death Against the Clock written by Anthony Gilbert (the pen name of the British crime fiction writer Lucy Beatrice Malleson) in 1958. The original words are:
Mad to think they can pull a fast one.
How do you make this phrase? It has two main uses:
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When following a noun, you need to add the preposition on: pull a fast one on...
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It can also be used directly alone to mean "deceive people, play tricks, play tricks"
Let's look at two example sentences:
1) Example 1: Make up a dialogue, you can read it carefully
Leon and Jasmine are discussing an experience they have been buying a car recently:
Leon : Any luck with buying a new car yet? (Is there any progress on buying a new car)
Jasmine : No, not yet. I finally decided what car I wanted, but I haven't found the right seller. I did meet one guy who posted an ad online. I contacted him through email, and he offered me a good value for the car. However, when I showed up, he raised the price by two thousand dollars! (I negotiated a good price with the seller, and when I met, the seller suddenly increased the price by 2000 dollars!)
Leon : Wow! That's suspicious.
Jasmine: I know! That’s why I accused（控告、指控） him of trying to pull a fast one on me（骗我） and refused to buy it.
2) Example 2: When used to describe something, it means "execute/perform/complete a prank or trick"
— I've got a great plan to pull a fast one on the school for April Fools' Day.
— I have a great plan to celebrate April Fools' Day by making a prank for the school .
This slang has appeared in the following series and movies, from far to near:
— The first season of the 1972 war film "Germ Warfare":
— The second season of "Two Peaks" in 1992:
— The seventh season of the classic American drama "Friends" that has been released since 1994:
— The 1998 movie "He got game":
— The third season of 1999's "House of Spoof":
— 1999's "Freaks and Geeks" (Freaks and Geeks) first season:
— The seventh season of "American Dad" in 2005:
— The first season of "The Femme Maid" in 2013:
— Of course I wasn't trying to pull a fast one.
— Of course I didn’t want to lie
Next time you encounter crooked nuts, remember to use this slang, he will definitely say: "Your English is very GOOD."