I was writing today, as usual, and found myself using this particular turn of phrase.

To be somewhat more precise, the sentence came out like this:

Inwardly I groaned. This was exactly the sort of thing that was likely to put Pyotr’s nose out of joint, probably permanently.

It seems a tad awkward to me, as well as being an overly (and overtly) British sort of expression. Can anyone suggest a more apt phrase to use to convey the meaning of someone who is or will be displeased with a given decision?

Azh

I don’t see anything wrong with the phrase, especially since you follow it with "probably permanently"... The imagery works well with the final phrase.

-Tim

I usually use the phrase, "I punched him pretty hard. His nose was quite out of joint."

VB

I refuse to understand phrases referring to violence. For example, I have recently seen the expression "bitchslap" (I think) a few times, but being generally kind to animals, I haven’t tried to find out if it’s some USAmerican way to abuse female dogs or whatever.

"Having one’s nose out of joint" has something to do with offending one’s pride, such as being past over for a job promotion or having one’s authority overriden by upper management, or even going to someone else for advice, when you think you should be more expert about it.

I will admit that "pregnant dogslap" is very crude, but I have never heard it (nor have I heard the compound "dogslap").
But I see that there are some uses of it on the internet.  I have no idea what exactly it means, but I am guessing it is a sort of euphemism for "(female dog) slap." (Yes, the censor recognizes it as "pregnant dogslap.") And not very euphemistic at that!  Of course, this has nothing to do with dogs, but, rather, women or being treated as (in)significantly as a woman.   Neither do I endorse this action nor the phrase itself.

Sitran

K-

When are you going to know when I’m joking? I’m really very gentle.

Also, b*tchslap more often is used to humiliate men rather than addressed to women.

V

It wasn’t me, but he F*lt*r that made it ‘pregnant dog’. I saw on preview that it didn’t like the to me perfectly innocent word b-i-t-c-h, so I changed it in a way that I thought would suffice for passing, and apparently didn’t bother to make a last check.

Some people’s nostrils flare when they’re angry, and I have supposed to be very angry might therefore put "one’s nose out of joint."

That’s my 2¢ in the matter.

When are you going to know when I’m joking? I’m really very gentle.

If you know where to find the parson’s nose on a chicken, its fairly easy to imagine what putting your nose out of joint might actually entail.