hit the ceiling

1. To become extremely angry: “When Corey found out someone had stolen his CD player, he really hit the ceiling.”

Idioms and Phrases

Also, hit the roof . Explode in anger, as in Jane hit the ceiling when she saw her grades , or Dad hit the roof when he didn't get his usual bonus . The first expression dates from the early 1900s; the second is a version of a 16th-century locution, up in the house roof or house-top , meaning “enraged.”