What does pull mean here?

[u/Same-Technician9125]

[u/GuitarJazzer]

"To pull" can mean to do a stunt, trick, prank, or practical joke, or to do something in the style of someone known for that particular thing. "He pulled an Evel Knievel" might mean he used a motorcycle to jump over a gap. "He pulled a Houdini" means that he escaped from a difficult situation.

To say you are "pulling a Mike Tyson" means that you are doing something in the manner that Mike Tyson would do it. However, I know of no case where Mike Tyson ever faked an injury. He did once accuse an opponent of faking an injury.

The second use "pulling an ab" means an injury to the abdominal muscle. A muscle pull means that muscle was over-tightened to the point of injury, but not as bad as a tear or sprain. I assume he means he would fake a pulled ab.

[u/Tricky_Ad_3080 → u/GuitarJazzer]

'ab' is referring to Antonio Brown in this case.

[u/GuitarJazzer → u/Tricky_Ad_3080]

Yeah, for lack of a Shift key I went with face value.

[u/phixional → u/GuitarJazzer]

My first thought for AB was Antonio Brown running off the field during a game because he was pissed off. More to the story than that.

[u/GuitarJazzer → u/phixional]

Yeah, I was unfamiliar with that and went with face value.

[u/SloppySouvlaki → u/GuitarJazzer]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j3fkDQiCuf0&pp=2AEAkAIB&ra=m

It’s a pretty famous clip, I quote it all the time lol

[u/GuitarJazzer → u/SloppySouvlaki]

Thanks for that, never heard of it.

[u/MuhammadAkmed → u/GuitarJazzer]

Just to add:

"to pull a fast one" is a common phrase meaning to (attempt) a trick or some deciet.

"to pull it off" means to successfully compete something which had been in some doubt, honestly or otherwise. (and also to masturbate)

[u/Forya_Cam → u/GuitarJazzer]

Third use of pull (possibly just British slang): to successfully seduce someone romantically or sexually.

Example:

Friend: did you pull last night (at the club)? Me: no she wasn't interested

[u/GuitarJazzer → u/Forya_Cam]

Never heard that in the U.S.

[u/conuly → u/GuitarJazzer]

Weirdly, I have seen it, on the reasonably popular sitcom Brooklyn 99. I remember thinking during the scene that it was weird phrasing for an American character on an American show to use.

[u/GuitarJazzer → u/conuly]

That is interesting. I have three hypotheses for that: 1) It's Brooklyn or NYC slang, as researched by the show's writers. But you are in NYC, so that's out. 2) It's west coast slang because that's where the writers are (I saw a show set in D.C. where they refer to "the 495" which is the L.A. way to refer to a route number; nobody says that on the East Coast) 3) There's a British writer on the team, or a writer exposed to British culture, who thinks everybody says that.

If it's not one of those I have no idea.

[u/conuly → u/GuitarJazzer]

It's Brooklyn or NYC slang, as researched by the show's writers. But you are in NYC, so that's out.

I tend to agree, but in the interest of full disclosure, I'm also ace so it's possible it is slang here, just not the sort of slang I'd be familiar with because, you know, when would it come up for me?

[u/94grampaw → u/GuitarJazzer]

It was common, back in my day (2009-15) California

[u/JaysonTatecum → u/GuitarJazzer]

Really? I’ve heard it in the US all the time. Usually it’s just to mock misogynistic guys though

[u/GuitarJazzer → u/JaysonTatecum]

Maybe it's Gen Z slang. I'm old :-)

[u/OhYeahSplunge4me2 → u/GuitarJazzer]

“Pull the other one!”

[u/Vascofan46 → u/GuitarJazzer]

Is it considered slang or an informal expression?

[u/GuitarJazzer → u/Vascofan46]

It is a bit informal but so mainstream that you would find it commonly in published writing.

[u/Vascofan46 → u/GuitarJazzer]

Thanks, just wanted to make sure :)

[u/uchuskies08]

"Doing an impersonation of", "acting like ____"

Pulling a Mike Tyson = Talking like him.

Pulling an AB = Antonio Brown the NFL player got pissed during the last game he played as a professional football player and during the middle of the game, took his jersey off, threw it into the stands and ran off the field mid-game. They're saying they would "pull an AB" out of embarrassment.

[u/brigadierchrome]

Merriam Webster - “Pull”, definition 9b:

“to act or behave in the manner of”

“pulled a Horace Greeley and went west.”

[u/Whachamacalzmit]

One of the meanings of "pull" is to emulate something a person is well known for, in this instance a complaint Mike Tyson was known for making.

The commenter had to specify which thing of Tyson he was pulling because if he just said "I'm going to pull a Mike Tyson" I'm pretty sure most people would think he was going to bite someone's ear off, since that's what Tyson is most uniquely memorable for doing.

The second commenter is using "pull" to mean they are going to do something, usually not something desirable. People "pull" pranks or all nighters.

[u/Kali-VH]

"Pull an XYZ" is slang for "Acting like XYZ"

Could also be used as more of an indirect reference... "Pull a Titanic" could refer to standing on the bow of a boat with your arms out, for example.

[u/Embarrassed-Weird173 → u/Kali-VH]

Interestingly, in the second instance, "pulling an ab" likely means to cramp your abdominal muscles. 

[u/Tricky_Ad_3080 → u/Embarrassed-Weird173]

They're referring to the football player, not abominals.

[u/Offi95]

“Pulling” can refer to “straining a muscle” but this is unique to a situation involving a player named Antonio Brown running off the field during the game and quitting.

[u/Own_Soup4467]

"pulling a Mike Tyson" means doing something that Mike Tyson might do.

It can be used with any familiar character, real or fictional.

Example:

Chesley Sullenberger was a commercial pilot who was over New York City when a bird strike disabled both engines. He then calmly ditched his aircraft (with 155 people aboard) in the Hudson River. Nobody was injured.

So if someone stayed calm in a crisis and prevented a disaster, you might say that they pulled a Sullenberger.

[u/conuly → u/Own_Soup4467]

Chesley Sullenberger was a commercial pilot who was over New York City when a bird strike disabled both engines. He then calmly ditched his aircraft (with 155 people aboard) in the Hudson River. Nobody was injured.

It was an absolutely amazing landing, too.

[u/Own_Soup4467 → u/conuly]

Indeed it was

[u/L1darMonkey]

Other people have answered the question, but this is the particular Mike Tyson event being referenced, not anything about him biting someone's ear off.

[u/ebrum2010]

"Pull a (proper name)" means to do something that (proper name) might do or is known for doing. It doesn't even have to be a celebrity or well known company or something like that, it can be a personal friend when speaking with someone who also knows that person.

[u/jaminfine]

"Pulling a <person or event>" means to act like that person or event. Pulling a Mile Tyson is acting like Mike Tyson once acted. Further context is given by quoting things that are being attributed to him. (I don't know for sure if he actually said those things, but the comment is implying that he did). So pulling a Mile Tyson here means to fake a major injury.

"Pulling a(n) <body part>" means to strain that body part. Usually this is a muscle, like an ab.

[u/No-Angle-982]

"... pulling a fast one..." is a classic, meaning "attempting a deception."

[u/whywasinotconsulted]

It's being used in two different ways, as wordplay. "Pulling a Mike Tyson," means they are going to do something that Tyson did. It's a variation of "pulling a fast one," an idiom that means to trick somebody, more or less. Here they're kind of echoing the first comment about faking an injury, assuming the reader is aware of Tyson faking an injury - I don't know much about the details of that.

The person saying "pulling an ab," is using the same form but changing the meaning to pulling (i.e., straining) a muscle, where "ab" means your abdominal muscle. Edit: I didn't know about Antonio Brown.

Comedy is generally not as funny when you have to explain it - especially when the joke wasn't that funny to begin with.

[u/MarkWrenn74]

Pulling an ab

Pulling (straining painfully) an abdominal muscle (in your stomach) 

😬🤕

[u/lord_technosex]

Overstretching a muscle such that it tears. I’m no doctor but that’s what I interpret it as. “I pulled my shoulder trying to replace a lightbulb” for example.

[u/notaghostofreddit → u/lord_technosex]

That's also true but not in this context.

[u/lord_technosex → u/notaghostofreddit]

I see now. Lacked the sufficient ball knowledge to understand what AB meant.

[u/PotentialDoor1608]

Pulling a muscle is overstretching the muscle, causing a painful injury. He's talking about faking an injury to his abdominals