Equivalent idiom for "turning in one's grave" for a living person?
If you do something that would greatly upset a deceased person, it would cause him to "turn in his grave".
However, what if the person affected is still alive? Is there an equivalent idiom for this?
Solution 1:
Consider mortify if you can tolerate a colourful word rather than an idiom.
Definition from O-D
- Cause (someone) to feel very embarrassed or ashamed [...]
Its etymology is slightly reminiscent of the grave / death reference mentioned by OP, i.e.
Late Middle English (in the senses 'put to death', 'deaden', and 'subdue by self-denial'): from Old French mortifier, from ecclesiastical Latin mortificare 'kill, subdue', from mors,mort- 'death'.
To quote a UK MP in news today:
Mr Duncan Smith told Robert Peston on his ITV politics show:
“I’ve been around in politics long enough to see plenty of incredibly experienced cabinet ministers and Prime Ministers get stitched up in the course of an interview.
“I’ve talked to her, she’s actually mortified about that, really genuinely mortified. - Independent Newspaper
Solution 2:
To "give someone a fit" is defined by oxforddictionaries.com as
Greatly shock or anger someone
For example, one might say
Your father's going to have a fit when he finds out what you did.
Note that hardly anyone actually experiences a seizure upon receiving bad news, unless perhaps they're epileptic already.