Idiom
the handbags come out
Meaning
A row intensifies; a dispute becomes heated.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The meeting got loud when the handbags came out.”
“The discussion about the budget was calm until the handbags came out and everyone started shouting.”
“As the negotiation stalled and personal insults were exchanged, it became clear that the handbags had come out, signaling a total breakdown in diplomacy.”
Examples
simple
“The meeting got loud when the handbags came out.”
contextual
“The discussion about the budget was calm until the handbags came out and everyone started shouting.”
complex
“As the negotiation stalled and personal insults were exchanged, it became clear that the handbags had come out, signaling a total breakdown in diplomacy.”
Origin
Coined c. March 2nd, 2004 by Jeremy St. Louis on the radio show Fox Sports World Report. Derives from women hitting each other with handbags during a catfight; compare earlier handbags, handbags at dawn.
Key words
Related idioms
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