Why Do We Say “Fly Off the Handle”?
There are a lot of ways to say that someone has lost control of their emotions. Maybe they’ve “blown a gasket” or they’re “freaking out,” or maybe they’ve “gone beserk!” With so many different idiomatic examples, one might be feeling a little frantic just thinking about the choices. But among
the most popular options is the phrase “fly off the handle.” This expression can be traced back to the early 19th century, and has a specific literal association with the backwoods. In a very literal sense, the phrase “fly off the handle” refers to how a loose axe head can...
