jerk around
phr. v..phr. v.. to treat someone unfairly by being dishonest or by wasting their time.
phr. v.. to behave toward someone in a deceptive, evasive, or uncooperative manner, often by providing conflicting information or failing to fulfill commitments.
Stop jerking me around and tell me the truth.
The company kept jerking him around about the start date, so he eventually took a different job.
Potential investors often jerk startup founders around for months before finally declining to provide any capital.
- Particles
- around
- Separability
- optional
- Pattern
- jerk + object + around
usually takes a person as a direct object; highly informal and often expresses frustration.
contrast with 'mess around' or 'lead on'; 'jerk around' specifically implies a power imbalance where one party is being treated with a lack of respect.
He is jerking around me.He is jerking me around.when the object is a pronoun, it must go between the verb and the particle in this phrasal verb.