a red flag to a bull



a red flag to a bull

A willfully infuriating or aggravating provocation; something that incites great anger or annoyance. An allusion to matadors' practice of waving red flags at a bull during a bullfight, though the color of the flag actually makes no difference to the animal. John's gone to gloat about his success over his brother, which is a red flag to a bull if I've ever seen one. You do realize that bringing your new girlfriend to your ex-wife's house is like a red flag to a bull, right?
See also: bull, flag, red

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Ahlberg['ɔ:lbɜ:g]
Adjoa-Western African, Akan
Iona (1)ie-ON-ə (English)English, Scottish
Noboruno-bo-ṙooJapanese
LucrÈCe-French
Arne (1)AHR-ne (Swedish)Swedish, Norwegian, Danish