(slang) tangles up (a person); confuses (a person). Taken from the US West where a tangled-up man in a confused condition was likened to a person, horse or cow who had run into a telegraphpole and gotten wrapped around it. It infers the situation or person needs to be untangled and straightened out. —OEC - Suppressives and GAEs Glossary Appr. 25 Feb. 91