1. To react to something with strong emotion. The reaction can be to something positive or negative. I had to talk to Mr. Myers about the botched report today, and boy, did he flip his lid.I knew Aunt June would be excited to hear I'm getting married, but she totally flipped her lid!Don't flip your lid, but I might have put a tiny little scratch in the bumper of your new car.
2. To go insane. Used humorously. Everyone thought I'd flipped my lid when I quit my lucrative marketing job and moved to India.Why would you sell the company at a loss? Have you flipped your lid?I still maintain that she flipped her lid when she left her husband last summer.
Also, flip one's wig; flip out. React very strongly or wildly, as with anger, surprise, or excitement; also, go crazy. For example, I'm going to flip my lid if he doesn't show up, or She really flipped out when she realized that she had won first prize, or I think Rob has flipped his wig. These slangy expressions, with their allusion to losing the top of one's head, date from the 1930s and 1940s.
If someone flips their lid, they become extremely angry or upset or go mad. Rosa flipped her lid and the confrontation with Sandra turned into a furious fight.She said, `Mom, I think you've flipped your lid.'
(American English also flip your ˈwig) (informal) 1 become very angry: When he saw the damage to his car, he flipped his lid. 2 go mad; become mentally ill: After the divorce, she just flipped her lid. She was in hospital for months.
To lose one’s temper, or to become very excited. An American slang expression dating from the twentieth century, it implies the metaphor of a pot boiling over and pushing off its cover. It appeared in 1951 in the New York Times Book Review: “The funniest book of the lot is enough to make a reader ‘flip’ or ‘flip his lid.’” The closely related flip one’s wig needs no explanation.
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