Meaning & use
get one's goat
Last updated
Meanings
phraseidiominformal
To make someone annoyed or irritated, especially by repeatedly doing something they find annoying.
Grammar: The possessive adjective changes to match the person who is annoyed: 'get my goat', 'get his goat'. It is often used in the passive: 'My goat was gotten' is not natural; say 'It really gets my goat.'
Patterns
- get someone's goat
- it gets someone's goat
- really get someone's goat
It really gets my goat when people talk loudly on their phones in quiet places.
His constant lateness got her goat, so she finally said something.
Don't let his teasing get your goat; just ignore him.
phraseidiominformal
To provoke or tease someone on purpose, often to get a reaction.
Grammar: This sense is slightly more active than the annoyance sense; it focuses on the person doing the provoking. It is often used in the continuous form: 'He's getting my goat.'
Patterns
- be getting someone's goat
- try to get someone's goat
The kids were trying to get the teacher's goat by asking silly questions.
Stop trying to get my goat; I'm not going to argue with you.
Common combinations
- really get someone's goat
- It really gets my goat when the bus is late every morning.
- get someone's goat about something
- She got his goat about the messy kitchen again.
- try to get someone's goat
- He was only trying to get your goat with that comment.
- let something get your goat
- Don't let a rude comment get your goat.
Synonyms and how they differ
- annoy
- A direct verb meaning to make someone slightly angry; it is more neutral and can be used in formal contexts, unlike the idiom.
- irritate
- Similar to 'annoy' but often suggests a more repeated or lasting feeling of annoyance.
- bother
- Suggests causing trouble or worry rather than just annoyance; it can also mean to disturb someone.
Opposites
Commonly confused: get one's goat or get someone's back up?
get one's goat vs get someone's back up
This idiom also means to annoy someone, but it often implies making someone defensive or angry by criticizing them, not just by being irritating.
Practice
Which sentence uses the idiom 'get one's goat' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Option 0 correctly uses the idiom to mean 'annoys me'. Options 1 and 2 use 'goat' as the literal animal, and option 3 is not a natural use of the idiom.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “get one's goat”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.