Wednesday 13 June 2007

Phrase of the Day 99: 'fly off the handle'

"to fly off the handle"


definition: to go into a rage; to react in a very angry way to something someone says or does

(ztratit nervy; vyletìt)

example: "John McEnroe would often fly off the handle at the tennis judges for any close decisions."

origin: The origin for this expression comes from U.S. frontier settlers. While repairing something, their axe head would sometimes come loose and fly off the handle. This was not only dangerous, but also held up work for others until it was fixed - much to the annoyance of all.

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