get someone's goat
/ˌɡɛt ˈsʌmwʌnz ˈɡoʊt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.84 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
15
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "It really gets my goat when inconsiderate people drop litter in public."
- "If he had legged it on his own account, because what he heard me say got his goat, I could understand that."
- ""Unfortunately," said Soames, "there's no such thing as luck in properly regulated assurance, as we shall find, or I'm much mistaken. I shouldn't be surprised if an action lay against the Board for gross negligence!" That had got the Chairman's goat!—Got his goat? What expressions they used nowadays!"
- "But there's one litte thing that gets my goat, / That certainly strikes a sour note. / It's that Southern Ship who has my place— / With her larger decks and her faster pace."
- "It sure did get their goat; they turned without saying a word and walked off toward the highway, red-necked, us laughing behind them. I forget sometimes what laughter can do."
- "Sometimes people are quite simply intent on riling us; on getting our goat. [...] If you don't want them to get your goat, don't let them know where it is."
Etymology
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌɡɛt ˈsʌmwʌnz ˈɡoʊt/
- British English: /ˌɡɛt ˈsʌmwʌnz ˈɡəʊt/