hit the ceiling

1. To become extremely angry: “When Corey found out someone had stolen his CD player, he really hit the ceiling.”

Idioms and Phrases

Also, hit the roof. Explode in anger, as in Jane hit the ceiling when she saw her grades, or Dad hit the roof when he didn't get his usual bonus. The first expression dates from the early 1900s; the second is a version of a 16th-century locution, up in the house roof or house-top, meaning “enraged.”