I've heard or seen the idiom 'chewing the carpet' a couple of times today (eg here) in connection with Gordon Brown as a candidate for head of the IMF. The Guardian article just linked to has the sentence: "A more intriguing UK outsider, in every sense – and absolutely guaranteed to have Brown chewing the carpet – is Peter Mandelson".
Chew, or chewing, the carpet is not in the OED but it is in Jonathon Green's Dictionary of Slang. Green describes it as being US slang from the 1950s and defines it as 'to lose emotional control, to have a temper tantrum'.
Do not confuse 'chewing the carpet' with 'chewing the rug'. That's not in the OED, although 'chewing the rag' is, but both phrases (rag/rug) are in Green's dictionary and in the late 19th century meant 'to gossip' or 'to chatter'.
Do not confuse 'chewing the carpet' with being 'on the carpet', which is a late-19th century US expression meaning 'about to face a reprimand'.
I can't recall hearing the "carpet" expression in actual use here in the US, even in the 50's, although there are probably many I haven't heard. I wonder if it's a regional thing?
The most commom similar expressions today, at least in the US Northeast, seem to be various forms of "mad enough to eat/chew glass", or "mad enough to chew nails".
Posted by: john | May 21, 2011 at 12:20 PM
There were stories (apocryphal) that Hitler, when he lost his temper, would roll about on the floor and bite the edges of the carpet. Maybe that's the source.
There is an expression over here, "spitting nails", meaning angry.
Posted by: Jemmy Hope | May 22, 2011 at 09:53 AM
Thanks, both, for those interesting comments.
Posted by: Virtual Linguist | May 22, 2011 at 10:43 PM