fly in the face of something

Example: “His claims fly in the face of all the evidence.”

Origin: In print since at least the mid-1500s, and a cliché by the time Henry Fielding used it in Tom Jones in 1749. Three rival images have been proposed for what exactly is doing the flying: a hen driven to attack the fox or dog threatening her chicks, a hunting dog springing at a person rather than its intended target, or — the falconry version — a trained hawk turning on its own handler's face instead of settling obediently on the glove. All three share the same shock: something expected to submit turning instead to open, direct confrontation.