CLARITY: English novelist John Galsworthy, a language purist, never used slang or even colloquialisms in his writing or speech. For the most part, he was unfamiliar with them.
Once, when he was chatting with an American friend, the latter remarked that someone was trying to get his goat."I beg your pardon?" said Galsworthy. "I'm afraid the meaning of that expression escapes me."
"The meaning is self-evident," said the other. "When one individual, by provocative manner or action, attempts to shatter another individual's equanimity, the first individual is said to be trying to get the other's goat."
Galsworthy nodded his head in understanding.
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"Ah yes," he said. "That's perfectly clear."