"Get Your Goat"

This refers to the uncanny ability of some people to irritate us. According to one theory, the phrase came from the practice of horse trainers of putting a companion in stalls with high-strung Thoroughbreds, to soothe them. Goats were among the most effective companions. Horses became so attached to them that rival barns sometimes would steal a companion the night before a race. The horse, upset, would presumably under-perform the next day.