courtesy of Halle Schultz website
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"Teppichfresser!” muttered my German companion, an editor who secretly despised the Nazis. And he explained that Hitler had been in such a maniacal mood over the Czechs the last few days that on more than one occasion he had lost control of himself completely, hurling himself to the floor and chewing the edge of the carpet.” William Shirer, Rise and Fall of the Third Reich |
D Vautier
5/22
German is loaded with all kinds of cool words and figures of speech. The expression teppichfresser literally means carpet-eater but it is a figure of speech describing a person who has a short temper and can frequently go into a rage. When Shirer was interviewing a German he accidentally interpreted the expression litterally.
By the way we have so many expressions in English that describe this; blow up, throw a fit, hit the ceiling, lose your shit, in a rage, out of control, tail in a knot, came apart, hair up your ass, serious case of ass (military), etc.