Péter les plombs is an informal French expression which means to blow a fuse, lose it, go beserk or flip out.
Péter les plombs
To blow a fuse, lose it, go beserk
Example sentences
Papa pète les plombs quand la voiture ne démarre pas en hiver.
Dad loses it when the car doesn’t start during the winter.
This second example sentence uses en voyant (while seeing), which is an example of the French gerund.
En voyant le désordre dans la chambre à coucher, maman a pété les plombs.
Seeing the mess in the bedroom, mom went beserk.
Expression origin
The informal verb péter means to burst, snap or break (as well as to fart!). Plomb literally means lead but in the context of this expression means fuse. According to expressio.fr, electrical fuses in earlier times contained a lead wire which would melt suddenly in the event of a sudden electrical surge.
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