What is the origin of the saying “gets my goat”?
I’ve heard these: Got your goat originated because people with racing horses used to keep a goat corralled with their horses to keep the horses calm. The horses would get upset and agitated if someone took the goat away so therefore if someone gets your goat you are left agitated. Or it may have come from “goat” as old prison slang for anger, as the Word Detective says. The latter hypothesis makes more sense to me. Goats can act like angry people–you know, head-butting and all that. “Get your goat” would then mean “arouse your goat-like side” or “bring out the beast in you.” It is a possible altered saying. It was stated that ‘goat may be a mispronunciation for ‘goad'(a pointed rod to urge on livestock. To goad is to stimulate someone into action. Another thought that the phrase may have been used by an angry shepherd, after the theft of his goat!
