get one's hump up
Get one's hump up is an old-fashioned slang phrase meaning to become irritated, angry, or sullen — to get your back up, as a cat does when annoyed.
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Get one's hump up is an old-fashioned slang phrase meaning to become irritated, angry, or sullen — to get your back up, as a cat does when annoyed. The hump here evokes the raised spine of a bristling animal or the hunched posture of someone in a bad mood. Though archaic in most modern usage, the phrase still turns up in period fiction and occasionally in regional speech where older idioms survive longer than average.
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(slang, archaic) To become angry or sullen.
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- have one's hump up91%
An archaic slang phrase meaning to be in a bad mood — angry, sullen, or just generally difficult to deal with. The 'hump' here is a figurative lump of irritability you're carrying around. Think of it as the Victorian version of 'woke up on the wrong side of the bed.' Rarely used today, but it has a satisfying bluntness to it.
- have one's hump up90%
(slang, archaic) To be angry or sullen.
- hump it77%
Dated slang meaning to get out quickly, scarper, or flee a situation in a hurry. The 'hump' here carries the sense of exerting physical effort — hunching over and moving fast, like carrying a heavy pack at speed. Used in criminal, military, and underworld contexts to mean making a rapid exit before trouble arrives. The phrase survives mainly in older British and American slang, occasionally revived for period-accurate dialogue.
- hump it73%
(slang) To depart in a hurry; to flee.