# spit the dummy

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/spit-the-dummy
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

To overreact (as an adult) to a situation, in an angry and childish manner.

## Examples

- He always spits the dummy when he loses a game.
- You always spit the dummy when the internet stops working.
- The manager spat the dummy during the meeting just because we disagreed with his new plan.
- My roommate spat the dummy and refused to cook dinner because I forgot to wash his favorite coffee mug.
- The customer spat the dummy at the store clerk simply because they had run out of the specific bread she wanted.
- Rather than addressing the valid criticism professionally, the director spat the dummy and stormed out of the boardroom in a fit of pique.

## Origin

The expression draws upon the image of an infant in the throes of a tantrum who forcibly ejects its pacifier. It emerged as a colloquialism for a sudden loss of composure, equating a mature adult's emotional collapse with the reflexive, messy frustrations of the nursery. The dummy, in this instance, is the British and Australian term for the rubber teat used to induce silence in the very young.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.