Has someone gotten your goat lately? Â Where does that saying come from anyway?
Phrase Finder believes that the saying is an American term dating back to the 1900’s and sticks by the âcommonly repeated story which purports to explain the phraseâs origin is that goats were placed with racehorses to keep them calm. When neâer-do-wells who wanted the horse to race badly removed it, i.e. they âgot someoneâs goatâ, the horse became unsettled and ran badly.â
Ye Olde English Sayings theorizes that the origins of âgetting your goatâ is reference to âan old English belief that putting a goat in the barn would have a calming effect on the cows, hence producing more milk. When one wanted to antagonize/terrorize oneâs enemy, you would abscond with their goat rendering their milk cows less- to non-productive.â
Either way, the common belief is âgoats are the great calmers of nature.â
I just think they are cute. đ

Get Your Goat Here!
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