English · Idiom Historical

to get one's goat

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

An old Americanism for annoying one, making him wild. To separate the sheep from the goats.

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Topics: Sheep Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “to get one's goat” mean?

An old Americanism for annoying one, making him wild. To separate the sheep from the goats.

Is “to get one's goat” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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