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Preserved but no longer current.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.
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.