{"id":3554,"date":"2022-05-23T20:23:30","date_gmt":"2022-05-23T20:23:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=3554"},"modified":"2022-05-23T20:23:30","modified_gmt":"2022-05-23T20:23:30","slug":"driving-me-nuts-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/driving-me-nuts-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"Driving Me Nuts \u2013 Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you looking for a way to tell someone that their behavior, actions, or words make you angry? Maybe you\u2019re looking for a way to say that your computer glitching is getting irritating? If so, you could say it\u2019s \u201cdriving me nuts<\/em>\u201d to voice your frustration. This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression.<\/p>\n

Meaning<\/h2>\n

The expression \u201cdriving me nuts<\/em>\u201d means that someone or something is becoming increasingly irritating and frustrating to you. It could be your kids driving you nuts, your partner, a friend, a colleague, or boss \u2013 even the cashier at the local supermarket.<\/strong><\/p>\n

An object like a faulty computer or a busted couch could also drive you nuts. The expression comes with varying degrees of conviction by the speaker.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, something that\u2019s mildly irritating can be driving you nuts. Other times, it may be something causing you large amounts of frustration that\u2019s driving you nuts, to the point of losing your mind or temper.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s common for people to replace the \u201cnuts\u201d in the idiom with other fruit, like bananas, or with other objects or slang, like \u201cbonkers\u201d and \u201ccrazy.\u201d However, these changes don\u2019t cause any shift in the meaning of the saying. It\u2019s as effective in any form, and most people will understand what you\u2019re saying.<\/p>\n

Example Usage<\/h1>\n

\"I've been working on this math problem for the last four hours. It's driving me nuts. I can't find a solution no matter what I try.\"<\/p>\n

\"Your behavior is driving me nuts. Just sit down and be quiet.\"<\/p>\n

\"Waiting for the results is driving me nuts. I can't take the suspense, and it's eating me from the inside out with anticipation.\"<\/p>\n

\"This person's tweets are driving me nuts. Why can't the moderators see it and just ban the guy for what he's saying to me?\"<\/p>\n

\"The wait for this part from Japan is driving me nuts. With supply chains\u00a0 broken, it's taking forever to get here.\"<\/p>\n

\"Your behavior is driving me nuts. Why do you have to constantly try to test my patience with this?\"<\/p>\n

\"Stop it! You're driving your father nuts with your yelling and screaming.\"<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

Origin<\/h2>\n

The word \u201cnut\u201d was a slang term for the head by the mid-1800s, as in \u201cuse your nut.\u201d By the end of the 1800s, it was associated with someone mentally unstable or a \u201cnutter.\u201d The word started as English slang, moving across the Atlantic to the Americas.<\/p>\n

The earliest written record of the expression comes from the Indiana Daily Times newspaper, from an article published in 1921.<\/p>\n

The topic of discussion was \u201cWomen Are More Careful Than Men in Driving Car.\u201d The report allegedly asked a law enforcement officer about driving behavior in women, to which he replied, \u201cHe threw up his hands and backed away. \u2018They drive me nuts,\u2019 he groaned.\u201d<\/p>\n