English

Alternative forms

• make someone's hair curl

Verb

curl someone's hair

1. (idiomatic) To frighten, dismay, or excite someone thoroughly .
   • 1903, Andy Adams, The Log of a Cowboy, ch. 7:

     "I'm not hankering for the dramatic in life, but we had a run last night that would curl your hair."

   • 1917, William MacLeod Raine, The Sheriff's Son, ch. 16:

     "Tell the son-of-a-gun for me that next time we meet I'll curl his hair right."

   • 1947, Harry Sylvester, Moon Gaffney (1976 edition), ISBN 780405093593, p. 116:

     "I'd have written him such a letter as would have curled his hair."

   • 2004, Abigail Van Buren, "Dear Abby," Beaver Country Times, 4 Oct. (retrieved 10 Oct 2010):

     After I printed that letter the volume of mail I received from survivors of child sexual abuse curled my hair.

   • 2008, Jackie Kessler, ****'s Belles, ISBN 9780821780985, p. 317:

     Yanking open the door to the bathroom, I was greeted with a stink foul enough to curl my hair.

Related terms

• hair-curling