The French expression “avoir la moutarde qui monte au nez” translates literally to “to have mustard climbing up to the nose”. The idiom is a metaphor for getting angry. Here are some English meanings:
- to lose one’s temper
- to get flared up
- to see red
- to get hot under the collar
A French definition on expressio.fr suggests that the idiom means to get overtaken by impatience with anger winning. “Se mettre en colère” is to get angry in French. The expression is said to date back to the 17th century.
La moutarde me monte au nez quand je vois des gens qui refuse de suivre les consignes du gouvernement. I get angry when I see people who refuse to follow the government’s recommendations.
French has several more expressions relating to angry:
- être vert de rage – Literally to be green with rage
- s’attirer les foudres de qqn – to incur somebody’s anger
- une bouffée de colère/rage (noun) – a surge of anger
