Keep your shirt on

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Meaning

A plea to stay calm or patient, holding off a hotheaded strip to fight.

Origin

From 19th-century America, tied to fistfights; men shed shirts to scrap, slang by 1854 for restraint. An 1871 'Scribner's' uses it for a calmed rowdy.

Variants

  • Shirt on
  • Keep the shirt

Usage Examples

  • Keep your shirt on-we'll get there soon!
  • He told me to keep my shirt on when I yelled.
  • Keep your shirt on; don't fight over this!

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