student asking question

What does he mean by "you pulled the rug"? Is that an idiom?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

That's right! It is an idiom. To "pull the rug" means to remove all support or assistance from someone. So, within this context, he's saying that she did emotionally support him, and then suddenly, she "pulled the rug" and stopped supporting him. Ex: We pulled the rug on Will and stopped giving him an allowance so that he'll get a job. Ex: One of my friends pulled the rug on me when I needed support, and I haven't forgiven them for that yet.

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