hook, line and sinker

English

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 a belief or acceptance) naively or unquestioningly.
I told him you were just a friend, and he fell for it hook, line and sinker.
- 2025 July 17, Oliver Holmes, “Trump calls Epstein conspiracy a ‘hoax’ and turns on Maga ‘weaklings’”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:
  In a lengthy post on his social media website, Truth Social, Trump accused his voters on Wednesday of falling for what he called a “radical left” hoax by the opposition to discredit him. “Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bullshit,’ hook, line, and sinker.”

(idiomatic) completely

Danish: med hud og hår (da), helt og holdent
Finnish: (fall for something hook, line and sinker) niellä nahkoineen karvoineen (literally “swallow with skin and fur”)
German: ganz und gar (de), mit Haut und Haaren
Hungarian: mindenestül (hu), egy az egyben, szőröstül-bőröstül (hu), kompletten, szó nélkül, csont nélkül, úgy, ahogy van
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
Polish: całkowicie (pl), bez zastrzeżeń
Russian: со все́ми потроха́ми (so vsémi potroxámi) (with all the innards)
Spanish: de cabo a rabo (es), de pe a pa (es), de principio a fin, como pescadito, con moño y todo
Swedish: med hull och hår (sv)

^ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “hook”, in Online Etymology Dictionary: “Hook, line, and sinker 'completely' is 1838, a metaphor from angling.”