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Having a cow

Posted by ESC on June 25, 2000

In Reply to: Having a cow posted by lisa on June 18, 2000

: Thank you...I also came across someone getting his "knickers in a knot", or "panties in a twist", or "blowing a gasket". The idea is that I am imagining someone getting all bent out of shape and I am trying to find an interesting way of saying this. Do you know when these phrases came into being, or do you know how I could find out? Lisa

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: : : I am actually looking for phrases that have a similar meaning as "having a cow", but are from before 1930. Any ideas?

: : There are the ones that play on the idea of having a seizure, such as "he'll pitch a fit!" "he'll take a fit," "she'll have a fit." Or others like "he'll hit the roof," "he'll blow his top," "he'll blow his cork."

Listening to America: An Illustrated History of Words and Phrases from Our Lively and Splendid Past by Stuart Berg Flexner (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1982) has a chapter called "Are You Boiling Mad?" There are almost four pages of expressions and the dates of their coinage. Some go back to the 1800s. I would be glad to list some if you'd narrow your request down a little.

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