Q: Why is annoying someone called
”
getting his goat?
”
A: For reasons that are unclear, horses form unusually close
attachments to goats.
Q: Why is annoying someone called “getting his goat?”
A: For reasons that are unclear, horses form unusually close attachments to goats. The presence of a goat can have a calming effect on a horse, and this fact has been used by horse trainers in the past to calm high-strung animals. Once quieted in this manner, a horse becomes very agitated if the goat is taken away. It has been suggested that this is the reason we describe annoying someone as getting his goat.
Q: Why do geese fly in a V formation?
A: Any statement about why animals do what they do is, of course, arguable, and in this case there appear to be two theories about why geese fly in a V formation.
The first holds that the V formation allows each bird to take maximum advantage of disturbances in the air created by the flap of the bird in front. Such disturbances tend to be generated in an inverted V pattern very similar to the formation flown by the geese.
The second theory states that, because the bird’s eyes are located on the sides of its head, the V formation provides each bird with the best simultaneous view of the flock leader and the direction of flight.
– Douglas B. Smith
‘Ever Wonder Why?’
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