get your goat

Meanings

1. 1phraseidiom

   To annoy or irritate someone, often by something small but repeated.

   Grammar: The possessive matches the person: it gets my goat, it got her goat.

   Patterns

   • something gets someone's goat
   • someone gets your goat

   His constant tapping really gets my goat.

   It got her goat that nobody thanked her.

   What gets your goat most about public transport?

2. 2phraseidiom

   To make someone lose their temper deliberately by teasing or provoking them.

   Grammar: Often used with try to: try to get someone's goat.

   Patterns

   • try to get someone's goat

   My brother does it just to get my goat.

   Don't let the crowd get your goat during the match.

   She tried to get his goat by mentioning his old mistake.

Word forms

Common combinations

really get your goat

Rudeness really gets my goat.

try to get your goat

They are trying to get your goat, so stay calm.

get her goat

Late replies always get her goat.

get under your skin

It gets under my skin and gets my goat.

doesn't get my goat

Heavy traffic doesn't get my goat anymore.

Synonyms and how they differ

annoy

Annoy is neutral and standard, while get your goat is a more colorful idiom.

irritate

Irritate is slightly more formal and suggests a lasting itch of annoyance.

rile

Rile suggests stirring someone into anger, often on purpose.

bug

Bug is informal and milder than get your goat.

Opposites

Word family

goat noun

a farm animal with horns

goatish adjective

like a goat, rare

get verb

to obtain or cause something

Commonly confused: get your goat or scapegoat?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “get your goat”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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