The phrase “get your back up” is one of those expressions we use all the time without thinking much about where it came from or what it really means. But, of course, I heard it tumbling out of one of my character’s mouths and had to check up on such things.

Today, saying someone gets their back up simply means they’ve become annoyed or defensive—but that metaphor has been around for a long time.

When a cat feels threatened, it will arch its back and raise its fur to look bigger and more threatening to whatever it fears—just like in cartoons. (I’m pretty sure dragons do this too!) Over time, English speakers started using this image to describe how people behaved when they became irritated or on guard.

By the early 1700s, people were already talking about putting or setting up someone’s back in a figurative way to mean getting angry or defensive. Early printed examples from slang books and plays show lines like “Don’t get your back up!” used in the same way we use the phrase today.

So, both the Dragon Keepers and the World Wrights could have used this description, and I don’t have to keep track of who it is restricted to!  Put one in the win column for me.

Find more from ‘You Can’t Say that!’ here

References

Merriam-Webster Dictionary. “Get one’s back up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/get%20one%27s%20back%20up (accessed February 3, 2026).

Dictionary.com. “get someone’s back up.” https://www.dictionary.com/browse/get-someones-back-up (accessed February 3, 2026).

Slang & Its Analogues, Vol. 1. “To put or set up one’s back … figure presented is that of a cat.” https://www.horntip.com/html/books_%26_MSS/1890s/1890-1909_slang_and_its_analogues_%28HCs%29/1890_vol_1/index.htm (accessed February 3, 2026).