战国时,燕国名将乐毅大举伐齐,一下子攻陷了七十多个城池,最后却败在牛角之下:齐将田单搜集了千多只牛,「束兵刃于其角」,然后火烧牛尾,纵牛冲击燕军,把燕军杀个落花流水。
要打败蛮牛,首先要应付的自然是牠的双角。西班牙斗牛士有时看着朝他胸腹插来的牛角避无可避,就会用手抓着保住性命。英国人叫这一招做take the bull by the horns(抓着公牛双角)。抓住了牛角,就可以设法打败蛮牛了。
由十九世纪末开始,英国人常常用take the bull by the horns这句话来比喻「不畏惧、不退缩,毅然着手处理困难或危险事情」,例如:
Harassed by a high rate of inflation, the Chinese government announced that it would take the bull by the horns and adopt stringent measures to cool down the economy. (在高通胀困扰之下,中国政府宣布会正视问题,采取严厉措施冷却经济。)