If you ness around then you will be accused of horsing around.
And indeed serious misbehaviour is often called horseplay and was frowned on at school, you can get into serious trouble for horsing around and horse play at most schools.
So what is the origin of this phrase, surely it must be of the equine variety as much as horsemeat is?
Well, yes, the answer is it does come from our stable dwelling friends. A horse does love a good frolic, running and charging around to release energy, and sometimes there is little warning that a horse is going to bolt.
And so because of that it was natural to liken people who act in this way to horsing around, and that's the origin of the phrase and it's still as apt today as it was back then.
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