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Reader question: Please explain this sentence: “A newspaper headline last weekend really got my goat...” My comments: In other words, you didn’t like the article you read. That headline piqued you off – immediately after reading it, you were filled with anger. You’re upset, annoyed, restless. Antsy. “Got my goat” is the idiom in question here and it is another one of those beautiful little American creations that are fun to learn. Goat is by and large a peaceful animal. I’ve seen goats get angry and rowdy on television but by and large goats are considered to be a docile and peaceful animal. It is perhaps from this that the Americans developed the idea of “got my goat”. Or your goat, for that matter. Or his/her goat. Or their collective goat, if you will. And that means you, he, her or they have lost whatever it is that gives them peace. Hence, one of the more plausible theories, I think, as to the origin of “get my goat” point to horse racing (Phrase.org.uk): A commonly repeated story which purports to explain the phrase’s origin is that goats were placed with racehorses to keep them calm. When ne’er-do-wells who wanted the horse to race badly removed it, i.e. they ‘got someone’s goat’, the horse became unsettled and ran badly. That’s just the sort of tale that gets the folk etymology juices running. Let’s just say that there’s no evidence to support that story. | 
