keep one's hair on
English
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Audio (General Australian): (file)
Verb
[edit]keep one's hair on (third-person singular simple present keeps one's hair on, present participle keeping one's hair on, simple past and past participle kept one's hair on)
- (idiomatic, British, Ireland, colloquial) To stay calm; to be patient; to calm down.
- All right, all right, just keep your hair on, mate.
- 1901, Louis Couperus, translated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos, Small Souls:
- “Oh, nothing, nothing!”
“Yes, there’s something. I mean to know!”
“Keep your hair on; it’s nothing.”
“Out with it!” cried Addie, scarlet with rage.
And he flew at Jaap’s throat.
- 1965 [Chatto & Windus], Margery Allingham, The Mind Readers, 2016, Penguin Random House (Vintage), page 138,
- ‘Keep your hair on, I don't see any crime. […] ’
- 2014, Melvin Rea, The Island They Towed Away, AuthorHouse, page 233:
- “Sorry old chap—keep your hair on—but surely you knew just about everyone was siphoning off the odd bit, here and there?”
Usage notes
[edit]Chiefly used in the imperative mood.
Synonyms
[edit]- (to stay calm): keep one's knickers on, keep one's pants on, keep one's shirt on
Antonyms
[edit]- (antonym(s) of “to stay calm”): get one's bowels in an uproar, get one's knickers in a knot, get one's knickers in a twist