get off my back

To stop nagging or pestering one about something. Often said as an imperative. Would you please get off my back? I'm not going to the interview, and that's final! My uncle has finally gotten off my back about helping him out at the hardware store, thank goodness.

Stop nagging or pestering me. This slangy expression has been popular since the late 1930s, and its precise origin has been lost. It may have come from the older saying, to have a monkey on one’s back, which once meant to be angry or annoyed but since about 1930 has meant to be addicted to drugs. More likely “get off my back” alludes simply to a burden. As governor of California (1966–74), Ronald Reagan frequently used the term, saying we need to “get government off our backs.”