Talk:fly off the handle

Shouldn't the present tense be "flies" off the handle rather than "flys?"

Yes, definitely should. Fixed. Equinox 01:20, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

Etymology: axe head flying off the handle?

Here's a possible origin for this:

This is an American phrase and it alludes to the uncontrolled way a loose axe-head flies off from its handle. It is first found in print in Thomas C. Haliburton's The Attaché; or, Sam Slick in England, 1843/4:

"He flies right off the handle for nothing."

• http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/fly-off-the-handle.html

. Gronky (talk) 10:27, 6 March 2013 (UTC)