auf den Leim gehen
to fall for it; to be taken in
Origin
Based on the (now banned) practice of catching birds with lime: fowlers smeared branches with sticky birdlime and lured birds, which stuck fast. In use since around 1700.
Building blocks
Words in this expression
Grammar that uses this word
- Pronoun 'wir' (we, nominative)Pronomen 'wir' (Nominativ)
- Pronoun 'sie' (they, plural, nominative)Pronomen 'sie' (Plural, Nominativ)
- Verb 'sein' (to be), present: er/sie/es ist (he/she/it is)Verb 'sein' im Präsens: er/sie/es ist
- Negation with 'nicht' (not)Negation mit 'nicht'
Examples
Mit dem gefälschten sind auf den Leim gegangen.
Many people fell for the forged letter.