I’ve been having an absolute blast collecting strange and interesting Spanish phrases. They’re like little linguistic puzzles—some of them make perfect sense right away, and others… well, they take a bit more digging.
And today’s phrase?
It took me about three days of searching before I found an explanation that finally made sense.
But first, let me tell you the story of how it all happened…
How Iberdrola “Took Me by the Hair”
Last year, Paul and I installed solar panels on our house. We were feeling quite pleased with ourselves, thinking we’d finally cracked the code to lower energy bills.
Then, one day, a Spanish neighbour who also had solar panels stopped by. We got chatting, and he asked what we were paying each month.
“€90, más o menos,” I said.
He burst out laughing.
“¡Iberdrola te están tomando el pelo!”
Which, directly translated, means: “Iberdrola is taking you by the hair!”
At the time, I had no idea what this meant, but judging by his laughter, it wasn’t good.
The man asked to see our bill, then pointed at a standing charge of €50—before even considering our electricity usage. Worse still, we weren’t even being paid for the extra energy we were feeding back into the grid!
We were getting robbed blind!
Eventually, after some digging, I found a solar energy company in Alicante who switched us over to a green electricity tariff and “virtual battery” which started compensating us for the electricity we sold. If you, dear reader, are also having your hair pulled by an energy giant then do check out Xcel Energía.
Anyway.
Crisis solved.
But that phrase stuck with me. I had it written down in my special WhatsApp chat—the one where I collect odd Spanish expressions to investigate later.
And investigate I did.
Discovering the Ancient Origin of “Tomar el Pelo”
So, what does tomar el pelo actually mean?
It’s one of the most common Spanish expressions for being deceived, tricked, or made fun of.
It’s a bit like saying “pulling someone’s leg” or “taking the mick” in English. If someone’s tomando el pelo, they’re messing with you, leading you on, or ripping you off.
But the literal translation?
“To take the hair.”
Which is… confusing, to say the least.
Let’s break it down:
- Tomar – To take
- El – The
- Pelo – Hair
At first, I thought maybe it meant something like “pulling the wool over someone’s eyes”, since hair (pelo) can be similar to wool. That almost made sense, but it still wasn’t quite clicking.
Then I found one explanation saying it came from shaving prisoners’ heads—as in, taking their hair as a sign of submission. Interesting, but something still felt missing.
And then I hit gold!
The Ancient Custom of Beards & Insults
Apparently, in the time of Queen Elizabeth I, pulling another man’s beard was considered an actual crime in England.
Punishable by a fine of two shillings.
Two. Shillings.
Why? Because grabbing or pulling a man’s beard was seen as an insult of the highest order—a deliberate aggravation meant to provoke a fight.
And it wasn’t just England. In other countries, messing with a man’s beard was a sign of mockery and disrespect, something that could start a duel.
And well… I love this explanation.
Someone is “pulling your beard”—goading you, provoking you, taking you for a fool.
Now that is a phrase I can get behind.
It might be a little masculine, but I don’t care—this one’s going straight into my go-to Spanish phrases list.
So, if you ever find yourself getting scammed, tricked, or just plain messed with, don’t just say you were fooled. Say it properly.
“Me han tomado el pelo.”
Because let’s be honest… it sounds so much better.
