I'm trying to describe a situation where someone made me believe a story that was not true just to see my reaction. Something that in English I would say "He was only joking with me" or "he was fucking with me" (sorry, it's the best way I found to describe my intent in English).
How would one say that phrase in French in a form that the majority would understand the same.
I would use one of:
Il me faisait marcher
or, closer to "fucking with me"
Il se foutait de moi
If you really want to point out that someone try to make you believe something, you can use :
The following proposals dismiss the fact that someone tries to make you believe a story, and only consider that someone makes fun of you, but beware of some differences :
Whilst il plaisantait would mean he was joking, il me taquinait would be able to convey the idea that he was joking with me.
Although the first two meanings of the reflexive verb “(se) moquer (de quelqu’un)” involve:
1) “ridiculing someone or something ” and
2)“dismissing the value of someone/thing,
its third meaning (Tromper ou essayer de tromper quelqu'un, quelque chose avec désinvolture = To/try to deceive/mislead/trick/fool someone/thing in a casual manner) might offer a more polite alternative to the idea conveyed by “Il se foutait de moi” =
“Il se moquait de moi”
Il se jouait de moi
Ne pas se laisser arrêter par quelque chose ou n'en faire aucun cas : Se jouer des lois, des difficultés.
Littéraire. Tromper quelqu'un, abuser de sa confiance ou de sa naïveté, le rendre ridicule : Je vous dis qu'il s'est joué de nous !
Jouer implies playing and/or tricking.
