Experiencing intense anger that has reached a critical point, like water at the moment it turns to steam. Suggests emotion at its most volatile and unstable state.
From Old French 'boillir' (to bubble up), from Latin 'bullire' (to bubble). The emotional metaphor developed naturally from observing how heated water becomes agitated and unstable, paralleling human emotional states.
When we say someone is 'boiling mad,' we're describing a real physiological state - extreme anger increases our core body temperature and heart rate so dramatically that we literally feel like we're burning up from the inside!
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