Slang definitions & phrases for rattle someone's chain
pull someone's chain
verb phrase
To deceive; fool, victimize; pull a fast one: too busy trying to figure out if I had been pulling his chain
To upset someone, esp by teasing or harassing; anger someone: I did not know you can rattle his chain with marvelous results/ He was insecure and sensitive. It was easy to pull his string
[1980s+; probably fr the image of a person who upsets a captive animal by pulling or jerking at its chain]
The Dictionary of American Slang, Fourth Edition by Barbara Ann Kipfer, PhD. and Robert L. Chapman, Ph.D. Copyright (C) 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers. Cite This Source
