Joe Arpaio. Joseph Michael Joe Arpaio (/ÉËrËpaÉª.oÊ/; born June 14, 1932) is a former American law enforcement officer and was the elected Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona for 24 years from 1993 through 2016. Arpaio styled himself as America's Toughest Sheriff.
This phrase alludes to Julius Caesar's crossing the Rubicon River (between Italy and Gaul) in 49 b.c., thereby starting a war against Pompey and the Roman Senate. Recounted in Plutarch's Lives: Julius Caesar (c. a.d. 110), the crossing gave rise to the figurative English usage by the early 1600s. See also: cross, the.
Someone was pulling my leg the other day (meaning, attempting some mild or humourous deception), and I wondered about the etymology of this phrase. Does anyone know when it originated, and why it should come to be used in this way? This source here suggests it originates from the idea of tripping someone up.