Meaning & use
get his goat
Last updated
Meaning
phraseidiominformal
to annoy or irritate someone, often in a minor but persistent way.
Grammar: The possessive pronoun changes to match the person: get my goat, get your goat, get his goat, get her goat, get our goat, get their goat.
Patterns
- something gets someone's goat
- really gets someone's goat
It really gets my goat when people leave their shopping carts in the parking space.
His constant humming gets her goat during long car trips.
Don't let his teasing get your goat; just ignore him.
Common combinations
- really get someone's goat
- The noise from the construction site really got my goat last week.
- get someone's goat
- She knows exactly how to get his goat with a single comment.
- it gets my goat when
- It gets my goat when the bus is late every morning.
Synonyms and how they differ
- annoy
- A direct verb meaning to make someone slightly angry; it is more neutral and less idiomatic than 'get someone's goat'.
- irritate
- Similar to annoy but often suggests a more repeated or physical irritation.
- bug
- Informal and stronger than 'get someone's goat'; it can mean to annoy someone a lot.
Opposites
Commonly confused: get his goat or get on someone's nerves?
get his goat vs get on someone's nerves
This also means to annoy someone, but it focuses on the effect on the other person's mood, while 'get someone's goat' is more about the act of provoking.
Practice
Complete the sentence: 'His constant whistling really gets my ____.'
Choose one answer.
The idiom is 'get someone's goat', so the correct word is 'goat'. 'Goats' is plural and does not fit the fixed phrase; 'goatee' is a beard style; 'go' is a verb and would change the meaning entirely.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “get his goat”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.