time out

An action taken by one friend towards another after being provoked past that individual's threshold or tolerance for annoyance, disagreement, or disrespect towards him/her. An Italian often has a much lower than normal tolerance for aggravation, and will prompt a "time out" by saying "Are you f---ing serious right now bro'?" or "How you gonna come off like that to me?". He will then place the friend (sometimes ex-friend) on "time out" for an indefinite time period, not talking, calling, nor returning phone calls. In extreme cases, the melancholy time-out-ee will try anything to get back together with his/her friend. The exchange of online, often sentimental, greeting cards are a popular option.