Exercise

1. To blow your top means:

a) to suddenly become excited

b) to slowly become excited

c) to suddenly become angry

d) to slowly become angry

 

2. What does Nina think of when she/he hears the expression blow your top?

 

3. Which other English expression means 'it makes me very angry'?

Answers

1. c

2. a volcano

3. 'it makes my blood boil!'

Read

You’re listening to British Council’s English Online and I’m Nina. Today on Language Snacks we take a look at the expression blow your top. Let’s listen to the dialogue.

A: Oh no! Quick, get a cloth!

B: What's the matter?

A: I've spilt my coffee all over Mark's papers!

B: Here you are. Oh dear, I'm afraid these papers are in a bad way. Will Mark be angry?

A: He's going to blow his top! He told me not to touch anything on his desk!

If you blow your top, you lose your temper, or suddenly become very angry. When I hear this expression, I think of a volcano erupting, suddenly shooting fire and smoke up into the air. However, I think the more common image is of boiling water blowing the top off a cooking pan. In both cases, the idea of heat and boiling is connected with the feeling of anger.

This connection is also true in other English expressions. For example, if something 'makes your blood boil', it makes you very angry. You could say, it makes you blow your top! Interestingly, a friend of mine from Turkey recently told me that the expression has a different meaning in Turkish, where if something 'makes your blood boil', it makes you excited.

And that’s it for now – join us again for some more Language Snacks.

You’ve been listening to English Online – the podcast for English learners in China.