have a cow
English edit
Etymology edit
Unknown. Popularized by the TV show The Simpsons where it was one of the catchphrases of Bart Simpson.
Pronunciation edit
Audio (AU) (file)
Verb edit
have a cow (third-person singular simple present has a cow, present participle having a cow, simple past and past participle had a cow)
- (slang) To get angry; have a fit.
- 1959 April 1, The Des Moines Register[1], page 9:
- Dad says I'm too young to go steady and seems to think I'm going to drag a girl up the aisle instead of to a school dance. He won't let me watch rock 'n' roll shows, and he'd "have a cow" if he knew I watched 77 Sunset Strip.
- 1990, “The Call of the Simpsons” (0:12:10 from the start), in The Simpsons, season 1, episode 7, spoken by Homer Simpson and Bart Simpson (Dan Castellaneta and Nancy Cartwright):
- "Of all the fates on heaven and earth, why did this one befall me?" "Don't have a cow, dad."
- My mom had a cow when I came in late.
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see have, a, cow.