go ape






go ape

Go wild

Become violently excited. – Informal

Originally mid 20th-century North American slang - This expression possibly refers to the 1933 movie King Kong which stars a giant ape-like monster.




RELATED IDIOMS :


all systems go

everything functioning properly ready to proceed.




be all go

be very busy or active – informal




from go to whoa

from start to finish




from the word go

from the very beginning – informal

1997 - Bridget O'Connor - Tell Her You Love Her Mr. Parker was in love with me almost from the word go.




go as you please

untrammeled or free

1998 - Canal Boat and Inland Waterways - Enjoy a go-as-you-please cruise aboard one of our all weather self drive luxury day boats.




go ballistic

fly into a rage – informal

1998 - New Scientist - The French nuclear industry, local authorities around La Hague and some government agencies went ballistic. Viel was fiercely condemned for his findings.




go bananasbecome extremely angry or excited

go mad – informal 1992 - Jim Lehrer - A Bus of My Own – I predicted John Erlichman would probably go bananas when he testified the next day.




go down with guns firing = go down with all guns firing

fail or be beaten, but continue to offer resistance until the end.




go figure

said to express the speaker's belief that something is inexplicable – North American informal

1999 – Massive - In the last election, the Tories got 19 per cent of the votes in Scotland and have no MPs there at all, while the Lib Dems got 13 per cent and have 10 MPs. Go figure.




go great guns

perform forcefully, vigorously or successfully - informal

1913 - Field - A moment later Louvois shot out, passed Sanquhar and Fairy King, and going great guns... beat the favourite by a head.




go shares = go halves

share something equally




go it = go to it

act in a vigorous, energetic or dissipated way - British informal

1995 - Times - While there is time, become an activist, disrupt political meetings. Go to it.




go postal

go mad, especially from stress - US informal

This expression arose as a result of several recorded cases in the USA in which postal-service employees ran amok and shot colleagues.

1999 - New Yorker - A man two seats away went postal when the battery on his cell phone gave out. A heavyset passenger had to sit on the man until the train finally pulled into Grand Central.




go the way of all flesh

die or come to an end

In the Authorized Version of the Bible all flesh is used to refer to all human and animal life.




go the whole hog

do something completely or thoroughly – informal

The origin of the phrase is uncertain. But a fable in William Cowper's The love of the World : Hypocrisy Detected 0779) is some times mentioned. Certain Muslims, forbidden to eat pork by their religion but tempted to indulge in some maintained that Muhammad had had in mind only one particular part of the animal. They could not agree which part that was and as for one piece they thought it hard From the whole hog to be debarred - between them they ate the whole animal, each salving his conscience by telling himself that his own particular portion was not the one that had been forbidden. Go the whole hog is recorded as a political expression in the USA in the early 19th century. An 1835 source maintains that it originated in Virginia marking the democrat from a federalist.




go well

used to express good wishes to someone leaving - South African




have a go

make an attempt

act resourcefully

take independent or single-handed action against a criminal or criminals




have a go at

attack or criticize someone - chiefly British




make a go of

be successful in something – informal

An Australian and New Zealand variant of this expression is make a do of it which dates from the early 20th century.

1987 - Evelyn E. Smith - Miss Melville Returns - He'd been unable to make a go of life in the city and so he'd returned to the small New England village he came from.




on the go

very active or busy – informal




to go

(of food or drink from a restaurant or cafe) to be eaten or drunk off the premises - North American




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