Jump down someone's throat

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Meaning

React suddenly and angrily to someone, usually by criticizing, scolding or rejecting what they have said before giving them a fair hearing. The expression is informal.

Origin

The expression turns a sudden verbal attack into the physical image of jumping down another person's throat. Versions of that image were in print during the 19th century, but some early examples still read as literal threats rather than the settled idiom. Anthony Trollope's Cousin Henry, published in 1879, provides a clear conversational example: a character asks whether a woman was expected to jump down a suitor's throat when he proposed. Dictionaries consequently place the established angry-response sense in the late 19th century. No particular incident, animal behaviour or named coiner has been demonstrated.

Research Sources

  1. jump down someone's throat Cambridge University Press
  2. Cousin Henry Project Gutenberg
  3. jump down someone's throat Dictionary.com / American Heritage Idioms Dictionary

Variants

  • Jump down your throat
  • Jump down one's throat

Usage Examples

  • I only asked whether the deadline had moved, so there was no need to jump down my throat.
  • The editor listened to the correction instead of jumping down the reporter's throat.
  • Give Priya a chance to explain the missing figure before you jump down her throat.

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