: Specifically used when someone's anger is "boiling over". Keep your shirt on : An older idiom for staying calm. Pop Culture Connections
: A classic alternative for advising patience.
"" is an informal American idiom used to tell someone to calm down , slow down, or stop being so impatient or angry. It suggests that a person should lower their emotional intensity, much like allowing a powerful jet engine to cool off before pushing it again. Origin and History
: While it started in futuristic science fiction, it gained broader colloquial popularity by the 1970s as a metaphorical way to advise patience or emotional control. When to Use It
The expression is versatile and typically used in three scenarios:
: To tell someone to wait when they are rushing a process (e.g., "Cool your jets—the results won't be ready for another hour."). Common Synonyms