What it means
To suddenly crack it and throw a tantrum, usually over something tiny, like a grown-up having a full sook in public. The picture is a baby spitting out their dummy when they’re upset, which is exactly the vibe you’re calling out. Handy for mates who get dramatic and carry on like a pork chop.
Usage examples
"Macca’s forgot his extra sauce and he spat the dummy at the counter, then sheepishly came back two minutes later asking for a napkin."
"The opening batsman absolutely spat the dummy after the umpire ruled lbw, threw the bat halfway to the boundary rope and gave the pavilion the kind of glare that does not fade quickly in the Sydney summer."
"My uncle spat the dummy at the family barbecue because the snags were burnt and the sausage rolls had run out, and the rest of us pretended very hard to be deeply engaged in the cricket commentary."
Where it comes from
Spit the dummy is one of the most quintessentially Australian idioms, attested in newspapers from the late nineteen-fifties when childcare manuals across Australia and New Zealand were popularising the dummy, the rubber pacifier that calms a fussy baby. The image of the toddler hurling the dummy out of the cot in fury became shorthand in suburban Australia for any grown-up flinging a public tantrum. New Zealand adopted the phrase across the Tasman by the seventies, and the cricket commentary boxes of both nations now use it as default for players losing their cool.
Other ways to say it
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