I'll be honest here, I actually kind of enjoy this element of my commute in London. I get to work "energised"
I've tried being all "adult" about it, but I just can't help myself. I actually bought a pile of the little highway code books years ago from a discount bookshop and kept them in my bag to hand out to people who I decided could do with a brush-up. I often used to preface the gift with "If you can't read, there are pictures" or something along those lines.
I've only had a couple of instances where it got a little beyond shouting. People in vehicles often seem to feel invincible, then re-consider... Once some guy at the lights was leaning right out of his window waving his arms (actually reaching for me) and screaming at me, forehead veins throbbing. He shouted something along the lines of "if I weren't in my car, I'd do you!" It seemed to me he wanted to come out of the car through the window, so I helped him a little (not all the way). He looked quite shocked at that point and shut up. The seemingly all-powerful vehicle physical shield didn't actually exist!
A couple of years ago I had some guy turn his car around and chase me for daring to criticise his stupidly close pass from the opposite direction. I stopped, propped up my bike on a lamppost and invited him out of his car to "discuss". He drove off very quickly much to the amusement of the onlookers.
So I guess the message is, if you enjoy conflict, go for it, but be prepared for possible escalation. A big smile with D-lock in hand is a good look.
If it's not your cup of tea, ignore them and they mostly go away. I say mostly, because once I was witness to another cyclist in a barney with some driver who ended up driving his car *over* the bike. Unsurprisingly he was arrested. Dunno what happened with him in the end.
