hook, line and sinker

English[edit]

From all the parts of a fishing tackle that may be lost to a fish. Appeared in 1838 as a metaphor from angling.^[1]

Completely; (of belief or acceptance) naively or unquestioningly.
I told him you were just a friend, and he fell for it hook, line and sinker.

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(idiomatic) completely

Danish: med hud og hår (da), helt og holdent
Finnish: niellä nahkoineen karvoineen (swallow with skin and fur)
Icelandic: (fall for something hook, line and sinker) trúa einhverju eins og nýju neti, (fall for something hook, line and sinker) kokgleypa eitthvað, (fall for the story, hook, line and sinker) gleypa söguna hráa, (swallow hook, line and sinker) gína við einhverju
Norwegian Bokmål: med søkke og snøre
Russian: со все́ми потроха́ми (so vsémi potroxámi) (with all the innards)
Swedish: med hull och hår (sv)

^ Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “hook”, in Online Etymology Dictionary: “Hook, line, and sinker 'completely' is 1838, a metaphor from angling.”