"Pull it Off" Idiom Meaning, Origin & History | Superduper English Idioms
Channel: Superduper English Idioms
Date: 31/12/2020

0:00 - How to Say, “Pull it off.”
0:20 - Examples of “Pull it off.”
1:02 - Meaning of “Pull it off.”
1:35 - Origin of “Pull it off.”
2:30 - More Examples of “Pull it off.”
3:14 - Conclusion

“Pull it off.”

When someone “pulls it off”, they have successfully done, achieved, completed something, usually something hard, difficult or impossible.

“I’m sure you can pull it off - if anyone can get a perfect score, it’s you!” your classmate might say to you just before a big exam.

Maybe your partner is going out to get tickets to a famous violinist’s concert, “I’m sure you can pull it off. Go now, hurry up!”

“You really pulled it off! I didn’t think you’d really be able to build a robot all by yourself,” you might say to your nine-year-old daughter.

As you can see, “pull it off” means to have finished, accomplished, got something done - something that was arduous, taxing, strenuous, not easy.

The idiom, “pull it off,” sounds like it’s simply a physical request; for example, “This tape is so sticky, can you help pull it off my hand?”

Indeed, “pull it off” or “pull off”, was historically and is still used for the physical action of pulling off; it was only as early as 1851 that “pull it off” took on the idiomatic meaning of success.

Often, people are surprised that someone “pulled it off”, or did something that was thought to be extremely difficult or even impossible…

… what they didn’t see, however, was all the hard work and dedication that went into “pulling it off”. With perseverance comes skill, and skill makes things look easy.

“We were only able to pull it off because of the time and dedication each of you has put in,” a coach might say to her team after a championship.

Perhaps you and your friends are hiking in the mountains, “I’m sure we can get to the top before nightfall, I’m sure we can pull it off!”

“You pulled it off, congratulations on completing law school,” your parents might say to you on the day of your graduation.

So, the next time someone achieves something difficult, that you perhaps doubted was possible, don’t forget to say that they “pulled it off”!

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References: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/14260/where-does-pull-it-off-come-from