Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
hound someone vs. pick on someone vs. be on someone's back
English answer:
some nuances of meaning
English term
United States
BA in Transl., MA in ESL, 15 yrs of exp.
Native in: Portuguese 
Works in: English to Portuguese, Portuguese to English, Spanish to Portuguese, and 2 more.
hound someone vs. pick on someone vs. be on someone's back
I don't have any specific context, other than the definitions I found in the Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
hound someone: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/hound someone
pick on someone: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/pick on someone
be on someone's back: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/be on someone's back
| 4 +7 | some nuances of meaning |
Yvonne Gallagher
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Jan 16, 2025 19:09: Oliver Simões changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/2407412">Oliver Simões's</a> old entry - "hound someone vs. pick on someone vs. be on someone\'s back"" to ""some nuances of meaning""
Responses
Ireland
right word, right place. everytime
Native in: English (Variants: US, Canadian, Irish, UK)
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, English, and 1 more.
some nuances of meaning
pick on, as the others have said can be a one off or be regular, though if the latter we usually use always or constantly
He was looking for someone to blame/a scapecoat so picked on me = passing the buck
The bigger boys constantly pick on him in the schoolyard= bully
I don't know why she dislikes me so much but she's constantly picking on me for the least thing =fault-finding
My mother is always on my back about cleaning my room = keeps nagging
His boss is always on his back about something or other =fault-finding , being hypercritical
He kept hounding me to go/do something until I eventually agreed =wear someone down by being at them constantly
The child just kept hounding his mother (=pester) to buy sweets until she relented
The debt collecter was certainly persistant and kept hounding me until I paid
The police hounded the suspect (pursued like a hound dog) until he was caught again
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Note added at 13 hrs (2021-08-09 13:19:50 GMT)
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type debt collectOr
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Note added at 13 hrs (2021-08-09 13:20:02 GMT)
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typo!
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Note added at 2 days 11 hrs (2021-08-11 11:31:09 GMT) Post-grading
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glad to have helped
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AllegroTrans
: Yes, context in which any of these expressions is used is crucial, a dictionary of idioms is only a basic guide
3 mins
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Indeed. Thanks:-)
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Tony M
24 mins
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Thanks Tony:-)
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James A. Walsh
1 hr
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Many thanks:-)
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Tina Vonhof (X)
: Good examples of nuances.
2 hrs
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Many thanks:-) As an EFL teacher I had to come up with lots of examples, especially with advanced learners!
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Tomasso
: yes, nagging is a good example,
7 hrs
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Thanks:-)
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Sarah Bessioud
7 hrs
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Thanks:-)
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Britta Norris
: Great examples! :)
2 days 9 hrs
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Many thanks:-)
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Discussion
'to hound someone' is to be constantly, regularly chasing someone for something; as Tomasso says, it might even be for a legitimate reason.
'to be on someone's back' is to frequently harass someone, to pick up every little thing they may do wrong (or maybe even not) — to always blame them if something is wrong; it suggests never leaving them alone.
I'd say the last 2 are very close synonyms; it is the first one that may have a greater nuance of meaning.
pick on someone) to keep treating someone badly or unfairly, especially by criticizing them.
to annoy someone by criticizing them and putting a lot of pressure on them. The crowd aren't forgiving, and as soon as you make a mistake they are on your back
from google internet, empahasis is just a little different, one may have a reason to hound someone, they should be doing something,
picking on somebody is not justified, is sign of a bully, an abuse, and authoritarian, example at times of Sadism
be on some ones back, to put pressure on a person, maybe by calling attention to them when they do not want it.
I do not know the equivalent in Portuguese.