pull someone's chain
American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms:
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pull someone's chain
1.
Make someone speak out of turn, as in Who pulled your chain?--It's none of your business. [1920s]
2.
Make someone angry, especially deliberately, as in Teenagers really know how to pull their parents' chains. [c. 1960] Both usages allude to the literal sense of chain-pulling, that is, "causing someone to do something, as though activated by a chain."
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American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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