Get one's hooks into

Posted by Smokey Stover on October 06, 2006

In Reply to: Get one's hooks into posted by siliq on October 05, 2006

: get one's hooks into

I consulted my bed-table companion, the Oxford English Didtionary (OED) and found this:
" c. pl. slang. The fingers or hands. So to get one's hooks on or into: to get hold of...

1926 S.P.E. Tract XXIV. 122 Get one's hooks on, get hold of. 1930 'E. QUEEN' French Powder Myst. xxvii. 230 About these volumes... I noticed a queer hesitancy on your part when I first got my hooks into them. 1954 J. POTTS Go, Lovely Rose viii. 41 Maybe he's eloped with that fat Lang dame. She's been trying to get her hooks into him all winter."

It often has a negative connotation, especially when the "hooks" are into a person. When someone gets their hooks into you, you may find it difficult to shake them off, and they are probably trying to get something from you, either deeds or pelf, even a promise of marriage.
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• Get one's hooks into ESC 06/October/06
  • Get one's hooks into ESC 06/October/06