(slang) tangle up or confuse (someone). A humorous variation of wrap (someone) around a
telegraph pole, 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
telegraph pole and gotten wrapped around it. It infers the
situation or person
needs to be untangled and straightened out.
—SHSBC Binder 20 Approved Glossary