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Kanonathena Posted 20 years ago
Vocabulary

go ballistic

I know it means "To become very angry or irrational", but where does it originate from?

Thank you.
  

Top answer

The few expressions I know that have to do with getting very upset and angry would all contain the notion of pressure raising up to the point where it releases in a violent and almost explosive manner : "to flip one's lid" "to blow a gasket" It seems this other expression you mention would be of the same kind. The way I understand it, this idiom figuratively refers to the person getting very angry as a rocket (ballistic missile) being ignited. But that's just my interpretation of it...

— Waïti

  • The few expressions I know that have to do with getting very upset and angry would all contain the notion of pressure raising up to the point where it releases in a violent and almost explosive manner : "to flip one's lid" "to blow a gasket" It seems this other expression you mention would be of the same kind.
  • The way I understand it, this idiom figuratively refers to the person getting very angry as a rocket (ballistic missile) being ignited.
  • But that's just my interpretation of it...
  • Waïti.
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4 Answers
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The few expressions I know that have to do with getting very upset and angry would all contain the notion of pressure raising up to the point where it releases in a violent and almost explosive manner :
"to flip one's lid"
"to blow a gasket"
It seems this other expression you mention would be of the same kind. The way I understand it, this idiom figuratively refers to the per
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Excited as in hurling of missiles

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ballistic

1 : of or belonging to the hurling of missiles <the ballistic power of a crossbow>


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Additionally, "to go" in this sense acts as a linking verb. It doesn't refer to actual physical movement: rather, it indicates a change of state:

1. He went very strange.

2. She went ballistic.

3. He'll go ape.

4. I'm going commando.

MrP
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MrPedantic4. I'm going commando.

MrP

Oh my! Mr. P, I would never have guessed!
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