ruffle someone's feathers



ruffle someone's feathers

Annoy or offend someone, as in Calling him a tightwad really ruffled his feathers. This term alludes to the stiffened, upright feathers of an angry bird. [Mid-1800s]
See also: feather, ruffle

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Aravinda-Indian, Kannada
Waldedrudis-Ancient Germanic
Beatrice['bi:ətris]
Mudiwa-Southern African, Shona
MurnaMUR-naIrish
Tomislava-Croatian, Serbian, Medieval Slavic