
IdiomDaily Life
English
drive someone up the wall
Meaning: To annoy someone intensely.
Example: “That dripping faucet is driving me up the wall.”
Origin: The image is of someone so frantic they would try to climb the walls. The phrase is found from the mid-20th century.
Equivalents in other languages
Swedish: reta gallfeber på Literally: To tease gall-fever on
French: Faire devenir chèvre Literally: To make someone turn into a goat
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- diddly-squat Nothing at all.
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- you could have knocked me down with a feather I was extremely surprised.
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