pull a fast one

present singular third person pulls a fast one · participle present pulling a fast one · participle past pulled a fast one · past pulled a fast one

1. idiomaticoftenslangTo carry out a trick or act of deception; to behave contrary to expectations.

   This isn't worth anything like what you paid them. I think they pulled a fast one on you.

   5 more examples

   I haven't forgotten the way you tried to pull a fast one over me when you first came here—over the Jaintiapur plantation that I had wanted for some time.

   1907, Maurice Dekobra, The Widows Might

   President Bush today made his most aggressive assault yet on Gov. Bill Clinton, asserting that the Democratic nominee would "pull a fast one on the American people" and raise taxes by hundreds of billions of dollars.

   1992 August 7, Andrew Rosenthal, “The 1992 Campaign: Bush Says Rival Would ‘Pull a Fast One’ Over Taxes”, in New York Times, retrieved 03 Nov 2017

   The man known as Chainsaw Al pulled a fast one last week, buying three companies when everyone assumed he would be selling his own.

   1998 March 16, Daniel Kadlec, “Is That You, Al Dunlap?”, in Time, retrieved 03 Nov 2017

   7. Claimants are pulling a fast one. No. Less than 1% of the welfare budget is lost to fraud.

   2013 April 2, Ricky Tomlinson, “10 lies we're told about welfare”, in The Guardian, retrieved 03 Nov 2017

   But then came Jan. 6, when I watched my Ivy League-educated senator, Ted Cruz, try to pull yet another fast one on the American people as he fought — not long before the certification process was disrupted by a mob of Trump supporters storming the Capitol and forcing their way into the Senate chamber — to challenge the election results.

   2021 January 11, Mimi Swartz, “Never Forget What Ted Cruz Did”, in The New York Times, →ISSN