The Archive

Etymology Journal ยท D

Don't throw a hissy fit

Meaning

A command for someone to stop overreacting or throwing a childish tantrum. It implies that their emotional display is excessive for the circumstances.

Dismissive, sassy

Used in a sentence

  • If you don't get the toy you want, please do not throw a hissy fit in the store.
  • The boss is going to throw a hissy fit when he sees the quarterly numbers.
  • She threw a huge hissy fit just because we ran out of sweet tea.

The backstory

Hissy-fit originated in the early twentieth century, likely as a shortened or regional variation of hysterical fit. It is a quintessential Southernism.

Heard in

The South

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