Definition
to make someone very angry, or causing intense irritation
Examples
1) I was so mad at my boss that I could have just burned up.
2) Her comment about my weight really burned me up.
Etymology
The phrase is thought to have originated in the early 1900s, and it is
believed to be a reference to the physical sensation of being burned.
Synonyms
infuriate, rile up, enrage
- englishdaily626.com [edited]
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When I first saw the phrase, I thought of "burn someone up at the stake," as in
the scene where Colonel Slade in the movie Scent of a Woman:
Mr. Simms doesn't want it.
He doesn't need to be labeled... "still worthy of being a Baird man."
What the hell is that?
What is your motto here?
"Boys, inform on your classmates, save your hide;
anything short of that, we're gonna burn you at the stake"?
(You would notice that I made the mistake by adding "up.")
Example 1 seems to suggest "burn (someone) up."
So there. I (re)learned two phrases here:
- burn (someone) up: enrage, rile up, infuriate
- burn someone at the stake: a capital punishment in the dark wicked middle ages
