bristle vs fly off the handle

bristle

verb
  • To be on one's guard or raise one's defenses; to react with fear, suspicion, or distance. 

  • To rise or stand erect, like bristles. 

  • To fix a bristle to. 

  • To abound, to have an abundance of something, especially something jutting out. 

noun
  • The hairs or other filaments that make up a brush, broom, or similar item, typically made from plant cellulose, animal hairs, or synthetic polymers. 

  • A stiff or coarse hair, usually and especially on a nonhuman mammal. 

  • A chaeta: an analogous filament on arthropods, annelids, or other animals. 

fly off the handle

verb
  • to become very angry or enraged; to throw a fit or go crazy. 

How often have the words bristle and fly off the handle occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )