Hoppin' Mad

32 sayings for when that’s the situation. Every one comes with what it means, so you can use it right the first time.

“Madder than a wet hen.”

Furious and flapping about it.

“Madder than a mule chewin' on bumblebees.”

Angry, in pain, and not about to stop.

“She could chew up nails and spit out a barbed-wire fence.”

Angry enough to do industrial metalwork with her teeth.

“He's fit to be tied.”

So worked up he needs restraining.

“He's got a burr under his saddle.”

Something small is making him ornery about everything.

“She pitched a hissy fit with a tail on it.”

A tantrum, deluxe edition.

“Stompin' around like a bantam rooster.”

Small, loud, and spoiling for a fight.

“Madder than a puffed toad.”

Swollen up with rage and twice as ugly about it.

“Chewin' nails and spittin' tacks.”

Bitterly seething.

“When the rooster gets too loud, the farmer starts eyin' the axe.”

The opposition leader spoke up too much and now the ruling party's comin' for him with a treason charge.

“The dog that barks loudest at the gate is the one they chain first.”

He made himself the loudest critic, and now he's the first one they slap charges on.

“Tallyin' every peck don't keep the fox out the henhouse.”

The BBC tracked a week of Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank, but the attacks kept coming.

“The hog rootin' the garden never minds you standin' there with a hoe.”

Israeli settlers went right on with attacks in the occupied West Bank as the BBC counted the days.

“A grave ain't even dug and the vultures already pickin' the fence posts.”

His body just come home and folks are squabblin' over succession before he's buried.

“Just 'cause the calf wears the bell don't mean the herd agrees who owns it.”

Bein' named king young didn't settle who truly holds power now that he's gone.

“Two dogs snappin' over the same bone don't neither one eat supper.”

US and Iran tradin' ship attacks and both sides still comin' up empty.

“A fence war never fed a single cow.”

All this back-and-forth attackin' ain't gainin' either country a thing.

“Hollerin' at the thunder don't put the shingles back on the roof.”

Merz attacked AfD in that stormy debate after they'd already won the election.

“A dog let off its chain don't ask whose fence it tore up.”

Kenya's crackdown don't care whose stall or shop gets wrecked in the rush.

“Ain't no tellin' a rabid dog to mind its manners.”

Once the government's crackdown starts, there ain't no reasonin' with it.

“Don't pass the collection plate to a man who's been pickin' pockets in the pew.”

Trump signed the bill imposing heavy sanctions on Russia.

“You don't lend your best mule to the fella who rode the last one to death.”

Trump put sweeping sanctions on Russia with the bill he signed.

“The fox got the chickens, and now he's cussin' the whole barnyard.”

Trump's pickin' a bigger scrap with the media followin' a rough stretch.

“He's like a rooster in a hailstorm—still crowin' at the clouds.”

Trump's keepin' the media fight goin' even after a week of trouble.

“A rattler don't stop bein' a rattler just cause he's coiled up quiet on the porch step.”

On the wary, uneasy nature of the US-Iran talks after such threats.

“You can shake hands over the fence, but you still remember whose bull broke it.”

On the two nations negotiatin' despite deep distrust.

“When the hog's livin' better'n the farmer, somebody's fetchin' the axe.”

Indonesia's luxury prison got demolished after the public raised a fuss.

“A riled bull don't care how fine the fence was built.”

Angry crowds smashin' through order, regardless of the rules meant to hold 'em back.

“Stomp on enough anthills and you'll get bit somewhere.”

Dozens hurt when the stompin' and the bitin' went both ways.

“Folks don't tap the rain barrel 'til thunder's right over the roof.”

The G7 waited for the threat to boil over before lettin' the oil flow.

“You can't club a hive quiet, you just rile up every bee in it.”

Riot police cracking down on protesters only makes the unrest spread further.

“Get the hens this riled up and the rooster's time in the coop is done.”

Protesters at the Indian Supreme Court are demanding the election chief step aside.