red rag
- noun
- UK
:
provocación
- Bringing up politics at the family dinner was a red rag that caused a heated argument.
And we just became a very red rag to a very angry bull.
- And we just became a very red rag to a very angry bull.
- So a lot of people got very upset and it seems to be a red rag to a bull even to discuss these things.
Examples
-
Such hypocrisy is like a red rag to a bull.
Blog text (7) -
That'd be like a red rag to a bull.
-
So a lot of people got very upset and it seems to be a red rag to a bull even to discuss these things.
-
That was like a red rag to a bull.
Academic text (2005) -
With old Harrison, it was more like a red rag to a bull.
-
His constant criticism of her work was like waving a red rag in front of her.
-
When he mentioned the budget cuts, it was a red rag that triggered her frustration.
Synonyms
79
3.5
A shocking action that makes people very angry
Antonyms
How Provoking
- UK
58
7.2
- Offensive
19
5.4
- Offensive
313
1.3
- Offensive
6
7.9
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
red + rag
The literal constituents 'red' (a color) and 'rag' (a piece of cloth) do not transparently yield the meaning 'something that provokes strong anger'; the expression relies on a cultural metaphor (as in 'a red rag to a bull') that a B1 learner who only knows the words would not predict. This idiomatic, culture-specific mapping makes the phrase non-compositional and therefore opaque to typical learners.
Etymology
Red rag comes from one popular story about a bullfighter waving a bright cloth. A red rag waved in front of a bull creates a strong angry reaction, so the phrase now means 'something that makes someone very angry'.