How does this sound to you? If it doesn’t make you puke, you deserve a knuckle. You can’t gag a maggot, of course. It is an idiom but its meaning is not much different from what it sounds like.
If you are here to know the meaning of ‘Gag a maggot’, you have come to the right place. This article will explain the meaning of this phrase, how it’s used, and other phrases and idioms with similarities
Meaning of Gag a maggot
Speaking of ‘Gag a maggot’, we don’t know who must have coined this phrase but we can deduce the idea behind its creation. We all know what a maggot is.
A maggot refers to a small lava that is often found on decaying foods or decaying flesh. You can find a maggot crawling and feasting on the most disgusting things.
When you say that something can ‘gag a maggot’, you are implying that it is so disgusting that even maggots may retch.
‘Gag a maggot’ is a phrase used to refer to something nauseating or irritating.
20 Similar Phrases To Gag a maggot
- Nauseate
- Take up arms
- Run amok
- Take aback
- Stomach-churning
- Hate someone’s guts
- Sicken
- Froth at the mouth
- Pull out
- Can’t stand
- Fly off the handle
- Flip your lid
- Go off
- Wind Someone up
- Make someone’s toes curl
- Put off
- Beyond the pale
- Make one’s skin crawl
- Piss off
- Gross out
Nauseate
This is the same as ‘Gag a maggot’ but in the simple form of English. The phrase may not be clear to everyone so you can simply say ‘Nauseate’ to spare yourself the stress of explaining.
When something is nauseating, it makes you want to throw up. Sometimes, the word is just an exaggeration but sometimes, you can actually feel that way.
Nausea is not a normal feeling for a healthy person. It is usually a sign that a person is falling sick. However, certain smells or ugly sights can be so irritating that you feel like retching.
If what you are talking about is making you feel like retching, then it is nauseating or it is enough to gag a maggot.
Take up arms
This is another quite similar expression often used to describe something triggering. It doesn’t have to do with the feeling of nausea.
As mentioned earlier, ‘Gag a maggot’ can be an exaggeration of how you feel about something. You may only say this because the view is ugly and it annoys you.
‘Take up arms’ means to start fighting. You can say that a certain smell or action can make you take up arms. This means that it is so provoking that it can make you start a fight
Run amok
This saying is not a synonym for ‘gag a maggot’ but it also has to do with provocation.
This phrase is not often used with people. However, it can be used to describe the behavior of animals or uncontrolled children.
When you say people are running amok, it means they are behaving in a wild and uncontrolled way.
Whatever will make people go crazy together must be very provoking. You can use this to describe how irritating or triggering a certain action is.
You can say something like ‘Daniel’s farts can make the whole school run amok’. Of course, this is an exaggeration but it obviously shows how triggering you consider the smell to be.
Take aback
Like the idioms and phrases mentioned earlier, here is another phrase that refers to something triggering. It can also be considered simple English since it is a term used often.
When you say you are taken aback, it means you are shocked or surprised by something.
Whatever is enough to gag a maggot will definitely take you aback. It will take anyone aback. You can say ‘Daniel’s farts take me aback.’
This means that you are shocked by it. You are not saying you are angry. Neither are you saying it is nauseating. However, you are acknowledging that you are shocked and it is enough to trigger you.
Stomach-churning
This is one of the closest English words to ‘nauseating’. You may not find this word in every dictionary but this is what it means.
When something churns, it is being stirred. It shakes and mixes rapidly. You can say that something churns your stomach.
We often have that feeling when we are sick. It feels like something is moving the content of our stomach or something is just detaching from the inside.
‘Stomach-churning’ means something is triggering enough to stir your stomach and make you want to retch.
Asides from nauseating, this may be the synonym that passes the main message of ‘gag a maggot’. There are not many English words to qualify things that provoke vomit.
Hate someone’s guts
This is quite far from the meaning of ‘gag a maggot’ but we have to agree that it is slightly close or, at least, related in a way.
When you hate someone’s guts, you hate the person, his or her confidence, or the person’s deeds.
When something is bad enough to gag a maggot, you will definitely hate it. Whatever makes you get the feeling of nausea will disgust you first. If you are referring to a person, you can just say you hate his or her guts.
‘Daniel’s farts are enough to gag a maggot. I hate his guys.’
Sicken
This is another close synonym for ‘gag a maggot’. When you say something makes you feel sick, you may mean it literally or as an exaggeration.
A certain drug or food you are allergic to can make you feel sick when you take it. That is the literal use of this word.
You can use this to qualify for something that disgusts you. It can refer to what makes you angry. It could also be something that nauseates you. The feeling of nausea is meant to only come when you are sick anyway.
You can say ‘Daniel’s farts sicken me.’ This may mean that it makes you feel nauseated. It may also simply make you angry.
Froth at the mouth
Frothing at the mouth means you are venting or talking angrily. We often go crazy when we are provoked to anger, then we start to talk so quickly and angrily that we even spew saliva.
A nauseating or irritating view will always get an angry reaction. When you say something is enough to gag a maggot, you can also say it makes you froth at the mouth.
This implies that it makes you very angry. You may not actually vent but you are acknowledging that it is provoking enough to make you vent.
‘I can’t go out with Daniel without frothing at the mouth. He sickens me’
Pull out
There are several meanings for ‘Pull out’ but we will only be focusing on one that is quite similar to the meaning of ‘Gag a maggot.’ ‘Pull out’ may have a sensual meaning.
It may also be used in its literal form to simply mean retrieving something out of somewhere. ‘Pull out’ may also mean withdrawing from something or giving up.
We will be focusing on the third meaning. When something makes you pull out, it has made you withdraw from something you would have stayed with.
Whatever is enough to make a person pull out from something must be very provoking. It may not replace ‘gag a maggot’ in all contexts but it passes the same message.
‘Daniel’s farts can make a person pull out.’ This is a correct way to use the phrase. You can also say ‘his constant excuses made me pull out from the deal’
Can’t stand
This is very easy-to-understand. You can’t use it the same way as ‘gag a maggot’ but it also refers to something that provokes you.
When you can’t stand something, it means you don’t like it. It gets you angry and you cannot tolerate the provocation.
This can be considered as the peak of shock or anger before a wild reaction happens. You can say you can’t stand something or a person just to show that you don’t like the person.
Fly off the handle
This idiom is a very popular one and may be easier to understand than ‘gag a maggot’. Both idioms do not mean the same thing but they both refer to provocation.
While ‘gag a maggot’ refers to something that is repulsive and irritating, ‘fly off the handle’ refers to an angry reaction toward something or someone.
‘Fly off the handle’ doesn’t simply being angry but actually reacting angrily. A person can feel anger and keep it controlled.
When you say a person flies off the handle, it means the person is having outbursts. When you say something is bad enough to make a person fly off the handle, you are saying just how annoying it is.
Flip your lid
This idiom is just a different way of saying ‘fly off the handle’. When something is provoking enough to flip your kid, you just may find yourself flying off the handle.
‘Flip your lid’ may be defined as losing control or succumbing to ones pent-up anger. When something flips your lid, it annoys you so much that you lose control.
You can use this idiom as a warning to show that you are still controlling your anger. You can say that a certain thing or action will flip your kid if something is not done about it.
Go off
Have you ever heard this phrase, ‘Go off’, in a conversation? It is often used to provoke people but that’s not actually what it means.
It doesn’t have the same meaning as ‘gag a maggot’ but you can consider this a provoked reaction to something that gags a maggot.
When a person goes off, he or she talks on and on about something in criticism or in anger. ‘Go off’ simply means a passionate expression but it usually refers to anger.
A person can go off during an argument but turn out to be on the wrong side. When the other person points out the obvious truth, he or she can be dared to keep going off about the wrong ideas.
You can say something is bad enough to make you go off.
Wind Someone up
When something winds you up, it makes you angry. When something gags a maggot, it makes you retch. The two phrases are similar since they refer to things we don’t like.
You can say a person or an action winds you up if it is slowly getting you angrier.
Make someone’s toes curl
This idiom, or toe-curling, has two meanings. It can refer to something that embarrasses you or makes you feel disgusted. The second meaning is sensual.
This is a polite way to say that something is nauseating to you.
Put off
This is similar to saying ‘turn off’. When something puts you off, it is irritating enough to make you uninterested in certain things. It is quite similar to gag a maggot. Whatever nauseates you must put you off.
Beyond the pale
When you say something is beyond the pale, you are implying that it is unacceptable. You can use it to refer to things that annoy you, things that nauseate you, or just things that don’t feel right.
It can be used to respond to provocation.
Make one’s skin crawl
When something makes your skin crawl, it disgusts or nauseates you. It is basically the same as saying something can gag a maggot. However, this idiom sounds just a little bit nicer.
Piss off
When something pisses you off, it makes you very angry that you want to react. You can say ‘Daniel’s weird luggage pisses me off.’
While what you’re referring to may not be enough to provoke people, you are saying how you feel about it.
Gross out
When you hear ‘gross’, it means the speaker is disgusted by something. It has a close if not the same meaning as ‘gag a maggot’. You can say ‘Daniel’s concoctions gross me out’.