Origin of Phrases - N
Nag
Rats were a constant problem in the Middle Ages. In addition to eating the food that people needed, their gnawing was a constant source of irritation. Since there was little that could be done to get rid of the rats, the people had to endure all the noise. An old Scandinavian term for the process of gnawing passed from German to English, and emerged as nag. Eventually, it was applied to any persistent annoyance.