"you're really irritating me"

"to push someone's buttons" is certainly to irritate, but it also means to pick on those particular things that make a specific person angry, i.e. if someone says to me "Americans are stupid," that would really push my buttons, but the remark may not annoy someone else very much.

Ach. Ich dachte immer, das bedeutet so etwas wie:
-- to fire someone's rocket
-- to fan someone's flame

Das sagte mein am. Prof immer, wenn's besonders trocken wurde:
"Does this fire your rocket? Does this fan your flame?"
(Reißt Euch das vom Hocker?)

Thx gals!
So there is no 1:1 translation, right?

See also   related discussion:yank ones chain

To me, "yank someone's chain" is definitely deliberate, whereas "push someone's buttons" is less so.

Andreas: "Does this fire your rocket? Does this fan your flame?"
are not common phrases. What it probably means is "does this get you excited?". This is not similar to "you're really pushing my buttons", which is a generally negative concept.

Another familiar phrase is "to get under someone's skin". It means: to say or do something which irritates someone, often in a way which is specific to that person.

A: I like her.
B: I don't know. There's something about her that really gets under my skin. (or: For some reason, she really gets under my skin.)

P.S. The phrase "to get under someone's skin" probably originates from the notion of a splinter (a little piece of wood that gets under your skin). In the figurative context it carries the same idea of something annoying which lodges itself in your consciousness and is hard to dislodge.

<b>OT</b>

*Possibly copyright violations ahead. Everyone who cares may please leave the internet now*

I've got you under my skin.
I've got you deep in the heart of me.
So deep in my heart that you're really a part of me.
I've got you under my skin.
I'd tried so not to give in.
I said to myself: this affair never will go so well.
But why should I try to resist when, baby, I know so well
I've got you under my skin?

I'd sacrifice anything come what might
For the sake of havin' you near
In spite of a warnin' voice that comes in the night
And repeats, repeats in my ear:
Don't you know, little fool, you never can win?
Use your mentality, wake up to reality.
But each time that I do just the thought of you
Makes me stop before I begin
'Cause I've got you under my skin.

(Musical interlude)

I would sacrifice anything come what might
For the sake of havin' you near
In spite of the warning voice that comes in the night
And repeats - how it yells in my ear:
Don't you know, little fool, you never can win?
Why not use your mentality - step up, wake up to reality?
But each time I do just the thought of you
Makes me stop just before I begin
'Cause I've got you under my skin.
Yes, I've got you under my skin.

- Sinarta

Sorry, somehow I couldn't resist

I wont troll in an anonymous forum
I wont troll in an anonymous forum
I wont troll in an anonymous forum
I wont troll in an anonymous forum
I wont...

Based on gio's example (Cole Porter, I think?), I have to modify my previous explanation. I still think that "to get under one's skin" usually has a negative meaning... like a splinter. However, in these song lyrics, it is not used in such a negative way.

Du weist genau, wie Du mich auf die Palme bringst.