angry

angry young man

1. One of a group of 20th-century British authors whose works expressed disillusionment with conventional society. In this usage, the phrase is often capitalized. This author is considered an Angry Young Man, so what kinds of themes can we expect to find in this book?

2. By extension, a young man who rebels against traditional values and society. He's an angry young man, protesting against a government he thinks is unjust.

See also: angry, man, young

mad enough to chew nails

Seethingly angry; furious to the point of becoming irrational. I tell you, I was mad enough to chew nails when they told me they'd given the grant to that hack, Dr. Warner. The boss was mad enough to chew nails after he heard we'd lost the Jefferson account.

See also: chew, enough, mad, nail

mad enough to chew nails (and spit rivets)

 and angry enough to chew nails; mad enough to spit nails

Inf. Fig. very angry, as if to be able to bite through metal nails. I am mad enough to chew nails! Who took my checkbook? Her sudden tirade made him angry enough to chew nails. He stomped in, mad enough to chew nails and spit rivets.

See also: chew, enough, mad, nail

wax angry

 and wax wroth

Fig. to speak in anger and with indignity. Seeing the damage done by the careless children caused the preacher to wax wroth at their parents.

See also: angry, wax

angry young man

a young man who feels and expresses anger at the conventional values of the society around him.

Originally, this term referred to a member of a group of socially conscious writers in Britain in the 1950s, in particular the playwright John Osborne. The phrase, the title of a book ( 1951 ) by Leslie Paul , was used of Osborne in the publicity material for his play Look Back in Anger ( 1956 ), in which the characteristic views of the angry young men were articulated by the anti-hero Jimmy Porter .

See also: angry, man, young