# Horsing around

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horsing-around/168356>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 13, 2003, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horsing-around/168356 "2003-04-13T00:27:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![insider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@insider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/insider)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horsing-around/168356/1 "2003-04-13T00:27:16Z")

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How did horses become involved in a term for innocent fun?

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**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horsing-around/168356/2 "2003-04-13T00:34:47Z")

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From [Word Detective:](http://www.word-detective.com/112402.html)

> [@](#):
>
> “Horse” has been slang for a rough, unpleasant joke or a bad turn of fortune since at least the late 19th century, and is most often heard in the phrase “horse on,” as in “The final bill, when it arrived, was a horse on the host,” meaning an unpleasant shock. This sense of “horse” is probably related to “horseplay” and “horsing around,” meaning a rough, physical kind of play.

There are other horsey phrases explained and theorised over [here](http://www.carnegiemuseums.org/cmag/bk_issue/1997/marapr/feat4.htm).

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**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horsing-around/168356/3 "2003-04-13T00:46:36Z")

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Horses not only horse around, it’s also true that when they are “horsing around” the mood can turn quickly to real fighting… or to just stopping and grazing. It’s both a playful way to behave, and specifically a playful mood that comes and goes seeming randomly.

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**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horsing-around/168356/4 "2003-04-13T00:57:18Z")

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“Horsing around” does tend to imply a bit of “rough and tumble” in the larking about, though, **j.c.** , rather than the “oh, hey, let’s play races around the paddock a bit before munching more grass”.