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Definition of to get their goat

get (one's) goat

  • The Great Northern Railway (now a part of the BNSF Railroad) constructed a tunnel in the Cascades mountains in Washington in the early 1900s. The railroad set up construction camps at various locations along the line. Each camp had an adminstrative building with the Great Northern flag displayed out front. The logo for the GN railroad was the mountain goat, which was used in advertising, painted on freight and passenger cars, etc. In time, there developed competition between the camps for the best performance - most miles of track laid, bridges built, etc. From time to time, one camp would raid another and take their flag, which of course upset the camp that lost its flag with the goat logo. Thus the phrase "get my goat."
    The above explanation was sourced from the archives of the Great Northern Railway Historical Society.

    Last edited on Oct 07 2014. Submitted by Anonymous on Oct 07 2014.

verb

origin

  • "Get (one's) goat" began as American prison slang, which in turn came from an off-color joke. The joke: Men stranded on a desert island find a herd of goats. Being starved for love, they have sex with the female goats. This goes on day after day until one day a fight breaks out between two men. When asked to explain, one man points at the other and shouts angrily, "He's got my goat!" That's how the expression began.

    This definition is questionable and is pending deletion. It will be saved from deletion if legitimate citations are found.

    Last edited on Jan 05 2013. Submitted by Anonymous on Jan 04 2013.

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Slang terms with the same meaning

Other terms relating to 'to become angry, go crazy, freak out':

Definitions include: to react with extreme emotion; freak out.
Definitions include: to cause a person to become angry or aggravated.
Definitions include: to lose one's temper.
Definitions include: to phone or page excessively; to fill up the capacity of some electronic answering service (voice mail, answering machine, one's pager, etc.)
Definitions include: to go crazy.
Definitions include: to be extremely angry.
Definitions include: to anger.
Definitions include: to take LSD.
Definitions include: to become enraged, lose one's temper; "freak out".
Definitions include: to react with extreme emotion.
Definitions include: to go crazy.
Definitions include: to freak out about something and go crazy.
Definitions include: to become enraged.
Definitions include: to lose one's temper.
Definitions include: a tantrum.

Slang terms with the same root words

Other terms relating to 'get':

Definitions include: very; really; extremely.
Definitions include: a phrase of one is about to be in trouble big-time or something bad is about to happen.
Definitions include: "Get ready for some serious trouble."
Definitions include: "buy one get one" free.
Definitions include: don't be mistaken; "believe it".
Definitions include: from the beginning.
Definitions include: acronym for "get back to work".
Definitions include: to leave.
Definitions include: to have sex with someone who is not one's significant other.
Definitions include: to acquire a buzz.
Definitions include: to be excited by.
Definitions include: to enjoy.
Definitions include: see clue.
Definitions include: to steal.
Definitions include: to ingest a drug.

Other terms relating to 'goat':

Definitions include: A western type person who may or may not be an actual cowboy.
Definitions include: a rural US saying that means a person's bottom-wear (such as dress or slacks) have gotten caught in their "butt crack".
Definitions include: An adverse reference, as for a job or promotion; any unsubstantiated comment designed to sabotage its subject's goals in a job, social circle, or personal relationship.
Definitions include: something excellent.

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