Pull Some Strings

I had to pull some strings to get Tim Horton’s cups in Korea.  My friend had to send me a package (a trophy 😊) and I asked him to put in a few extra things.  Since I am planning on doing a Tim Horton’s lesson (Canadian café and donut shop), I wanted to have real cups for thematic reasons.  I also got him to send an empty box of timbits.  Timbits are small donuts.  I think they are also called donut holes.  Since there aren’t any Tim Horton’s cafés in Korea, I will buy some donut holes from Dunkin’ Donuts and put them in the box (shhhhh!).

To pull some strings means to use your influence or power for something beneficial (an advantage).  For me, I used my connection to Canada to import some coffee cups.  I don’t have that much power or influence, lol.  One of the earliest examples is from 1860.  Bishop William Stubbs talked about the influence of a king when he said, “A king who pulled the strings of government.”

The pulling of strings refers to puppetry.  You control the puppet by pulling on the strings.  As a matter of fact, a government that is secretly controlled by another government is called a puppet government (puppet regime or puppet state).  Indeed, Bishop Stubbs was on the money with his criticism.

Example:  Her mother pulled some strings to get her into that school.  I don’t think it’s fair. 

Why are puppet idioms so bad?  If you missed it, check out “Pleased as Punch.”  Right now, I am not pleased as punch because those coffee cups still haven’t arrived.  They have three days to get here.  I don’t have high hopes.

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Reference:
https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/pull+strings
http://www.finedictionary.com/pull%20strings.html