In old cartoons, a character who was extremely upset would turn red, then white and then steam would billow out of their ears. No translation was needed to understand their emotions: driven to a boiling point. In reality, this expression was borrowed from blacksmiths. Depending on the temperature, it would change color, turning red, yellow and, finally, when it was at its hottest, white. This process then became a common analogy for describing a highly irritated person.