In Reply to: Hissy fit posted by Lou Crandall on January 17, 2009 at 09:25:
: "Hissy fit". Walter Scott in Redgauntlet refers to a character as suffering from a "hissing-hot fit" of the gout. Could this be a predecessor of the modern "hissy fit"?
Here is what Phrase Finder says: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/hissy-fit.html I always thought it came from a mad goose hissing. It could be hissing of water on a hot stove.