idioms, meaning "get angry"

[Olenek]

Hi everybody,

I have found the idioms, meaning "get angry" in Russian dictionary:
To go ballistic (You have already helped me with it in theme "To go ballistic");
To blow a fuse/ gasket;
To fly off the handle;
To lose one’s rag;
To lose one’s shirt;
To lose one’s temper;
To fly to a tantrum;
To go/ jump off the deep end;
To breathe fire over smth.;
To flip one’s lid;
To froth/ foam at the mouth;
To see red.

Are they really used in UK, USA or Australia nowdays? And how often?
Are there any differences in their using (maybe, different situations or reasons of getting angry)?

Many Thanks to everyone!
Olya

[freezeframe]

Hi everybody,

I have found the idioms, meaning "get angry" in Russian dictionary:
To go ballistic (You have already helped me with it in theme "To go ballistic");
To blow a fuse/ gasket; hear this sometimes
To fly off the handle; hear this sometimes
To lose one’s rag; never heard
To lose one’s shirt; never heard
To lose one’s temper; very common but kind of formal, not colloquial
To fly to a tantrum; never heard; usually it's "to throw a tantrum" and it's more about someone being whiny like a little kid
To go/ jump off the deep end; hear this sometimes
To breathe fire over smth.; never heard
To flip one’s lid; never heard
To froth/ foam at the mouth; hear this very rarely
To see red. I know this one but I don't think I've ever heard anyone say it

Are they really used in UK, USA or Australia nowdays? And how often?
Are there any differences in their using (maybe, different situations or reasons of getting angry)?

Many Thanks to everyone!
Olya

I would say something like "s/he totally flipped/freaked out" or "s/he got really pissed off". These are informal and conversational.

[Tdol]

In BrE, you will hear lose your rag, fly into a tantrum, flip your lid and see red.

[Raymott]

Also:
Don't bust your boiler.
Don't blow a gasket; Don't do a piston.
Don't have an aneurysm. Don't have a cow, man!

[freezeframe]

Don't have a cow, man!

I heard someone say this once in the early 90s.

[Vidor]

In American English...

To lose one’s rag

Never heard this.

To lose one’s shirt

Have heard this, but it does NOT mean to get angry. It means to lose a lot of money, possibly all of one's money, in some sort of business transaction. "He invested in the stock market but he lost his shirt when the market crashed in 1929."

To go/ jump off the deep end

Means "to go crazy", not to get angry.

To breathe fire over smth

Never heard this.


I would say that the other items in the list are in fact idioms for getting angry and would be intelligible.

[Mehrgan]

How about "to go spare!"?

[Olenek]

In American English...

To lose one’s shirt

Never heard this.

Have heard this, but it does NOT mean to get angry. It means to lose a lot of money, possibly all of one's money, in some sort of business transaction. "He invested in the stock market but he lost his shirt when the market crashed in 1929."

From "The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English" by Tom Dalzell, Terry Victor (2007):

"shirty - adj - angry, especially if only temporarily; characteristically ill-tempered. From "shirt" as a simbol af anger in such obsolete phrases as: "lose your shirt", or "have your shirt out" (to become angry) UK, 1897.

"English-Russian Dictionary of Idioms" by A.V. Kunin (2006) gives two meanings of this idiom:

1) to become angry (and Kunin does not say that this one is an outdated)
2) to lose a lot of money

That's why I'd like to know the opinion of native speakers.

[Olenek]

To go/ jump off the deep end

Means "to go crazy", not to get angry.

- go off the deep end and jump off the deep end :
1. Lit. to jump into a swimming pool where the water is over one's head and one needs to be able to swim.
2. Fig. to become deeply involved (with someone or something) before one is ready. (Applies especially to falling in love.)
3. Fig. to act irrationally, following one's emotions or fantasies.

(McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.)

- go off the deep end (informal) - to suddenly become very angry or upset and start shouting at someone

(Cambridge Idioms Dictionary, 2nd ed. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006. Reproduced with permission)

- go off the deep end - to become so angry or upset that you cannot control your emotions

(Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006. Reproduced with permission.)

go off the deep end - Idioms - by the Free Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

[Vidor]

That's why I'd like to know the opinion of native speakers.

Well, I am a native speaker of American English. I can tell you that if you use "Lose my shirt" or "shirty" to mean "get angry" in America most people won't know what you are talking about. I can't speak to whether this idiom ever had that meaning in the past in the USA, or whether it has it in other countries now. Of course idioms and slang are the most variable parts of regional English.

As for "go off the deep end", I'd say your first quoted definition, from McGraw Hill which does not include the connotation of "angry", is the correct one.