spit nails

present singular third person spits nails · participle present spitting nails · participle past spat nails · past spat nails

1. idiomaticTo speak or sputter in a very angry manner.

   [O]ne thing about Aunt Jenny gets me so mad I could spit nails.

   1965 September 6, Ann Landers, “Exception is Acknowledged”, in Spokane Daily Chronicle, retrieved 22 Nov 2013, page 17

   2 more examples

   The three chiefs of staff are described by sources as ‘spitting nails’ over the latest proposals to cut the defence budget even further.

   1993 November 9, “RAF chief attacks Treasury over cuts”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 22 Nov 2013

   Just the thought of Joseph I. Lieberman makes some Democrats want to spit nails these days. But Mr. Lieberman, the Connecticut independent, is not the least troubled by his status as Capitol Hill’s master infuriator.

   2009 December 14, David M. Herszenhorn, David D. Kirkpatrick, “Lieberman Gets Ex-Party to Shift on Health Plan”, in New York Times, retrieved 22 Nov 2013