Meaning
Behaving in an arrogant, disapproving or self-righteous way, as though morally or socially above everyone else. The phrase is nearly always critical and most often appears as an admonition to stop the posturing and rejoin ordinary discussion, though people also accuse others of mounting one. Critical and admonishing in almost every use, typically as a put-down of self-righteousness. Regional use: General English.
Origin
High horses were real animals: the 'great horses' of medieval England, expensive war chargers ridden by rulers and commanders, whose height let them literally look down on people on foot. The earliest reference known to The Phrase Finder is Wyclif's English Works (c. 1380), describing an emperor making himself and his cardinals ride tall horses in red. Because height long symbolized power and remoteness from common people, as it still does in 'high and mighty', the expression readily came to mean acting superior. The first figurative use on record is from the private sea journals of Admiral Sir Thomas Pasley, written in 1782 and published in 1931, wondering whether Sir George would mount his high horse or be over-civil to Admiral Pigot. By Pasley's day the literal displays had faded, and the phrase had turned critical; today it is applied not to the genuinely powerful but to people who merely assume a lofty, disapproving air.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- come down off your high horse
- get off your high horse
- get on your high horse
- mount the high horse
- on one's high horse
Usage Examples
- Before climbing onto your high horse about punctuality, remember that you missed the first two meetings entirely.
- She got on her high horse about other people's grammar and then misspelled the committee's name twice in one memo.
- Come off your high horse and admit the launch went badly; we need honest answers, not lectures.