Nose out of joint

Posted by ESC October 13, 2004In reply to Nose out of joint posted by DH on October 12, 2004

Put your nose out of joint:
Hurt your feelings or upset your plans--Phrase Finder
Make someone envious or jealous--Dict of Am. Slang,H-C
Vastly different defs, can both be right

Here's what I have:

HAVE YOUR NOSE OUT OF JOINT -- "Be disgruntled, particularly when somebody seems to be taking your place. The nose is not a joint and so doesn't go out (unless it is broken), but the image of surprised displeasure is vivid. It is also of long standing. Barnaby Rich was familiar with it in 1581, when he wrote in 'His Farewell to the Militarie Profession': 'It could bee no other than his owne name, that had thrust his nose so far out of ioynte.'" From The Dictionary of Cliches by James Rogers (Ballantine Books, 1885).