kick against the pricks

English

Etymology

Biblical phrase; see citation below.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

kick against the pricks (third-person singular simple present kicks against the pricks, present participle kicking against the pricks, simple past and past participle kicked against the pricks)

1. To kick back (of an animal etc.) against being goaded.
2. (figuratively) To struggle against fate or authority. [from 14th c.]

   Near-synonym: kick over the traces

   • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts ix:[5], folio clxvj, verso:

     The lorde ſayd / I am Ieſus whom thou perſecuteſt / it ſhalbe harde for the to kycke agaĩſt the pricke.

   • 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “The Young Life of Paul”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC, part I, page 67:

     Paul was laid up with an attack of bronchitis. He did not mind much. What happened happened, and it was no good kicking against the pricks.

   • 2002 November 5, Johnny Cash (lyrics and music), “The Man Comes Around”, in American IV: The Man Comes Around (Compact Disc), performed by Johnny Cash, United States of America: American Recordings, →OCLC, 440 063 339-2:

     The whirlwind is in the thorn tree / It’s hard for thee to kick against the pricks

   • 2010 December 8, Dan Hancox, The Guardian:

     Middle-class, indie-loving, media-savvy 18-40-year-olds in their tens of thousands joined Facebook groups, signed online petitions, added Twibbons, wrote letters of complaint and politely but efficiently kicked against the pricks.

Translations

to struggle against fate or authority

• German: wider den Stachel löcken
• Russian: арта́читься (ru) impf (artáčitʹsja)

Further reading

• “kick against the pricks”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “kick against the pricks” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.