Out of one's skin

[Stevenloan]

"[on winning a Golden Globe Award] My husband was as flabbergasted as I was. I think he almost flew out of his skin, he was so surprised and excited. He is just the most supportive and proud friend. My family is just beyond out-of-control excited."

- Hi guys! These sentences were said by a Hollywood actress. I couldn't find the meaning of "flow out of one's skin" on Google. What exactly does the phrase mean in this situation?

Your answers will be greatly appreciated.

StevenLoan

[Erik_Kowal]

"Flew" is the simple past tense form of"fly", not "flow" (for which the corresponding form is "flowed").

There is an idiom, "to jump out of one's skin", meaning "to become simultaneously startled and frightened", but "to fly out of one's skin" is not an established idiom. The usage here resembles the established idiom to a certain extent, but it is being used to express a different meaning. So I think it's a case of a one-off repurposing and adaptation of an existing idiom.

[trolley]

I'm only familiar with the "jumping/leaping out" versions, but Mentalfloss.com has this to say:

6. OUT OF ONE'S SKIN
English really itches to let you know exactly where we stand in relation to skin. We can jump or leap out of it when we’re excited. We can fly out of it when we get really angry. And we can play ourselves out of our skin if we do a great job at something.

I couldn't find any examples of "flew out..." but "played out..." seems to have some traction, especially on the football pitch.

[Stevenloan]

Erik and trolley : Thank you so much for your answers. Have a nice day.

StevenLoan