the limit

the (absolute) limit

A source of intense aggravation or annoyance. Oh, I can't listen to that fool any longer—his idiotic questions are the limit! These forms the HR department makes us fill out are the absolute limit, I'm telling you!
See also: limit
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

the limit

The most extreme; someone or something that irritates, delights, or surprises to the ultimate degree. For example, Hiring and firing someone the same day-that's the limit in employee relations! or That excuse of yours for missing the wedding, that's the limit, or He's done wonders before but this last one is the limit. This idiom uses limit as "the last possible point or boundary." [Colloquial; c. 1900]
See also: limit
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
See also:
  • the (absolute) limit
  • limit
  • be the limit
  • be the (absolute) limit
  • be the end
  • (someone or something) is going to be the death of (one)
  • (someone or something) will be the death of (one)
  • will be the death of
  • be the death of somebody
References in classic literature
The limit of some of the great prophets has been a hundred years."
Moreover, by applying the same system to the words quarante-deux,* which was the term allowed to the beast that "spoke great things and blasphemies," the same number 666 was obtained; from which it followed that the limit fixed for Napoleon's power had come in the year 1812 when the French emperor was forty-two.
Can it be said that the limits of the United States exceed this distance?
The limits, as fixed by the treaty of peace, are: on the east the Atlantic, on the south the latitude of thirty-one degrees, on the west the Mississippi, and on the north an irregular line running in some instances beyond the forty-fifth degree, in others falling as low as the forty-second.
It is far more rational to suppose, that the courts were designed to be an intermediate body between the people and the legislature, in order, among other things, to keep the latter within the limits assigned to their authority.
(Thirdly and Lastly): That Characters which may not have appeared, and Events which may not have taken place, within the limits of our own individual experience, may nevertheless be perfectly natural Characters and perfectly probable Events, for all that.
The imagery of the Indian, both in his poetry and in his oratory, is oriental; chastened, and perhaps improved, by the limited range of his practical knowledge.
I know of those whose serene and wise speculations on this theme would soon reveal the limits of his mind's range and hospitality.
The Limited Lability Company: The Better Alternative William D.
Gazur, Wayne, "The Limited Liability Company Experiment: Unlimited Flexibility, Uncertain Role," Law & Contemporary Problems, Spring 1995, pp.
A., "The Limited Liability Company: The New Kid in Town," The Journal of Corporate Taxation, Winter 1994, pp.
and Kloepfer, Peter K., "The Limited Liability Company: Beyond Classification," Taxes, April 1991, pp.
Kalinka, Susan, "The Limited Liability Company and Sub-chapter S: Classification Issues Revisited," University of Cincinnati Law Review, December 1992, pp.
and Garrison, L.R., "The Limited Liability Company: When Is It the Right Choice?," The Journal of State Taxation, Spring 1993, pp.
and Sklar, Bradley J., "The Limited Liability Company: A New Type of Borrowing Entity," Journal of Commercial Lending, March 1994, pp.