Raising the hackles
ToI's Pune-story on rate in rape cases has a phrase 'raised the hackles' (of human rights activists)
I found that there was at least one person who was, like me, curious to know the origin of the phrase. The Phrase Finder of askme.com responded to the query thus:
hackle: NOUN: 1. Any of the long, slender, often glossy feathers on the neck of a bird, especially a male domestic fowl. 2. hackles The erectile hairs along the back of the neck of an animal, especially of a dog. 3a. A tuft of cock feathers trimming an artificial fishing fly. b. A hackle fly.
Many animals, such as dogs and wolves, instinctively raise their hackles when annoyed, threatened or scared. It's presumably primarily done to make the animal look larger and more menacing itself, plus may I suppose provide some slight greater degree of protection to the neck area. Hence if something raises your hackles or gets your hackles up, it makes you feel aggressively irritated or fearful.
I found that there was at least one person who was, like me, curious to know the origin of the phrase. The Phrase Finder of askme.com responded to the query thus:
hackle: NOUN: 1. Any of the long, slender, often glossy feathers on the neck of a bird, especially a male domestic fowl. 2. hackles The erectile hairs along the back of the neck of an animal, especially of a dog. 3a. A tuft of cock feathers trimming an artificial fishing fly. b. A hackle fly.
Many animals, such as dogs and wolves, instinctively raise their hackles when annoyed, threatened or scared. It's presumably primarily done to make the animal look larger and more menacing itself, plus may I suppose provide some slight greater degree of protection to the neck area. Hence if something raises your hackles or gets your hackles up, it makes you feel aggressively irritated or fearful.
Comments
Post a Comment