pulling worms out of the nose?

[carolita]

does anybody know the origin of that awful french expression 'pulling the worms out of the nose' (english equivalent 'it's like pulling teeth')

[geofbob]

Are you sure it means that? I thought "tirer le ver du nez" was more like our "pulling someone's leg", ie to trick someone. In which case, it possibly derives from a conjoror's trick of appearing to pull a worm out of someone's nose.

[ravenhair]

You're both wrong, I'm afraid: "tirer les vers du nez � quelqu'un" means "to worm something (the truth, usually) out of someone", so the image is more similar between the two languages than you'd think.

[Christelle]

I agree with Ravenhair. "Les vers" or worms are meant to signify the truth. Apparently, this meaning was already used in the Middle Ages. But why out of the nose? Well, it is often indicator of lies and truth. Other French expressions like ' Ton nez remue, tu mens' meaning that you can tell that someone is lying because their nose are twitching (unfortunately not literally!) establish a clear link between nose, truth and lies'Rather like Pinocchio and his growing nose!