Fly off the handle
What's the meaning of the phrase 'Fly off the handle'?
Other phrases with
Lose self control.
What's the origin of the phrase 'Fly off the handle'?
This is an American phrase and it alludes to the uncontrolled way a loose axe-head flies off from its handle. It is first found in print in Thomas C. Haliburton's The Attaché; or, Sam Slick in England, 1843/4:
"He flies right off the handle for nothing."
Haliburton was an inventive writer and had a hand in the coining of several commonly used phrases:
See other phrases that were coined in the USA.