Have a beef with someone

Origin of: Have a beef with someone

Have a beef with someone

A beef is an argument or disagreement with someone and is an Americanism that dates from the 19th century and has connections to beefy meaning burly that dates from the 18th century. American etymologists maintain that a beef is a somewhat heated disagreement or argument that could come to blows and therefore it is best not to have them with beefy individuals.