avere un diavolo per capello
Meaning: Be extremely angry or agitated, ready to argue with anyone about anything.
Language: Italian
Literally: to have a devil for each hair
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: No source firmly settles the exact origin, though two threads plausibly feed into it. One reaches for medieval folk belief holding that demons could physically hide themselves among a person's hair, tugging and stirring up trouble from that hidden vantage point — a devil "per capello," one for every single hair, being about as thoroughly beset by torment as a person could be. A second, more literary influence points to Dante's Divine Comedy, whose vivid depictions of devils in Hell fed directly into popular imagination; one recurring image has demons yanking at the hair of the damned who let themselves be overtaken by wrathful anger, translating an infernal punishment directly into an earthly description of someone in the grip of their own fury.
More idioms — Body & Senses
- 종로에서 뺨 맞고 한강 가서 눈 흘긴다 (Jongno-eseo ppyam matgo Hangang gaseo nun heulginda) — Venting frustration on innocent people due to humiliation elsewhere; displaced anger towa…
- душа нараспашку (dusha naraspashku) — Extremely open, trusting, or emotionally vulnerable with others.
- estar com a corda no pescoço — Be in serious financial or personal trouble with no easy escape.
- give someone the cold shoulder — to deliberately treat someone with indifference or ignore them.
- wear your heart on your sleeve — to display emotions openly; to be transparent about feelings.
- have the wool pulled over your eyes — to be deceived or fooled.
More Italian idioms
- essere un osso duro — Be a difficult, stubborn person who is challenging to deal with or influence.
- piangere sul latte versato — Waste time regretting something that cannot be changed or undone.
- Prendere due piccioni con una fava — To achieve two goals with a single effort.
- Avere la botte piena e la moglie ubriaca — To want to have it both ways.
- Ogni morte di papa — Extremely rarely; once in a blue moon.
- Avere gli occhi foderati di prosciutto — To be unable to see what is right in front of you.
From our false friends
- Camera — Actually means 'room'. A camera (device) is una macchina fotografica.
- Pretendere — Actually means 'to demand' or 'to expect'. Pretende troppo = He demands too much.
- Parente — Actually means 'relative'. A parent (mother or father) is un genitore.