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I have heard the following sentence in an Italian TV series:

Sono 'sti cazzo de Adami che hanno il minimo alto.

The speaker is a gangster and he is talking about one of his men, which was beaten up by a guy from the rival Adami family the night before. What does "avere il minimo alto" mean? "to have a short fuse", "to get angry easily"?

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Yes, it is a metaphor that suggests they can easily get angry. The expression is generally used for motorcycles whose “minimo” engine level is the level at which the engine can run when it is idle.

(Wikipedia)

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    It's used not only for motorcycles, but also for cars (and more generally for anything with an engine). In fact I'd say it's more common for cars, but that probably depends from your personal experiences :)
    – Denis Nardin ♦
    Commented Oct 5, 2019 at 5:28
  • Sì, io associo il minimo del motore più facilmente ad una moto che ad un’auto, forse perché nelle auto tende ad essere più stabile mentre nelle moto e specialmente nei motorini deve essere regolato più spesso.
    – user519
    Commented Oct 5, 2019 at 5:45
  • Il -1 è per via del discorso moto/macchina?
    – user519
    Commented Oct 5, 2019 at 7:27
  • Io ho dato un upvote, non ho idea di perché qualcuno voterebbe -1
    – Denis Nardin ♦
    Commented Oct 5, 2019 at 7:29
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    @Gio: Can you please add the link to the source?
    – Charo ♦
    Commented Oct 5, 2019 at 7:56

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