set one's teeth on edge

1. Something that one finds intensely irritating may be said to “set one's teeth on edge”: “The mayor's sexist remark set my teeth on edge.”

Idioms and Phrases

Irritate, annoy, make one cringe, as in That raucous laugh sets my teeth on edge . This expression alludes to the shuddering feeling evoked by a grating noise or similar irritation. It appears in several books of the Bible and was also used by Shakespeare. [c. 1600]