Caught by the short hairs (or short and curlies) In english explanation

The meaning, explanation, definition and origin of the idiom/phrase "Caught by the short hairs (or short and curlies)", English Idiom Dictionary ( also found in Vietnamese )

author Tommy Tran calendar 2021-01-04 07:01

Meaning of Caught by the short hairs (or short and curlies)

Synonyms:

have someone by the balls , have someone over a barrel

Caught by the short hairs (or short and curlies) British informal verb phrase

The verb "catch" can be replaced by "have/get".

To have someone in a difficult situation in which you have complete power over them.

I caught Jay by the short hairs because I knew what he had done.

He caught us by the short and curlies when he found out about our little secret.

Other phrases about:

rule the roost
to be the most powerful person who controls and makes the decisions in a group
an easy touch

a person who is easily deceived or manipulated to do something, especially giving someone money.

take (someone, something, or some place) by storm

1. To seize or take control of someone, something, or some place with a sudden and fierce attack

2. To gain a rapid and great fame or success in a place, a field or a particular group of people

in (somebody's/something's) thrall/in thrall to somebody/something

To be under the control of someone or something

live under the cat's foot

 If someone live under the cat's foot, they are under the dominion of another person, typically their wife.

Grammar and Usage of Caught by the short hairs (or short and curlies)

Verb Forms

  • catch by the short hairs
  • catches by the short hairs

The verb "catch" should be conjugated according to its tense.

Origin of Caught by the short hairs (or short and curlies)

The phrase refers to the hairs on the neck and it may have been used in the military. It was first used by Rudyard Kipling in The Drums of the Fore and Aft from 1890, regarding the British Army's occupation of India:

"They'll shout and carry on like this for five minutes. Then they'll rush in, and then we've got 'em by the short hairs!"

The meaning of the phrase changed when L. Dorothy Slayers in her collaboration with Robert Eustace in her novel Doctors in Case from 1930 wrote:

“She’s evidently got her husband by the short hairs.” 

Since then, the phrase has been used in different variants.

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