Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
The saying is, of course, “Like a bull at a gate”, to describe someone who charges into tasks with great vigour. e.g. “He was like a bull at a gate when I told him he’d be the next player on to the football field.”
But people over the years have started to believe it to mean an angry or belligerent person prone to personal attacks. e.g. “He didn’t let up with his verbal attack on me – he was like a bull at a goat.”
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Well, I’ve never heard it and I’m from Texas. You’d think if it had anything to do with bulls, goats or pigs, I’d have heard it. The other thing about being from Texas is maybe you haven’t heard everything. According to Google, over a million people have entered “bull at a gate”, and two have entered “bull at a goat”. I have no idea if that’s enough to make it an eggcorn, but at least now I’m one of the smartest Texans in the whole state!
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